Rise, Lord Voldemort
by Sati
Summary: Part two of the Life of Darkness trilogy...an ambitious set of stories to explain the life of Lord Voldemort...part two is his "missing years" when he grew to become the most feared wizard who ever lived...
1. The Journey Begins

A/N : Here it is, part two of the Life of Darkness trilogy…herein you will find several foreign words and a good bit of Germanic accents at the beginning (I have no idea how to do the other accents, and later on they're not doing much of the actually "talking" in English anyway)…follow Tom on his journey to becoming Lord Voldemort…and be there when he becomes the thing most feared in the Wizarding world…

A/N 2 : Oh, yeah…and I don't own Harry Potter either…I'm just a fanatic…^_^ ENJOY!!!

Chapter #1 – The Journey Begins

Now that he had graduated from Hogwarts, Tom felt like he had a much greater freedom than he had ever had before. He did not have to go back to the orphanage to live. He could use his magic freely, as long as he did not get caught doing anything against the law. He had been especially warned about Muggles seeing the use of magic, even though they would most certainly deny they had seen it even if they _had_ seen it being used. But there was one other thing that he was glad he could do without restriction now, and that was learning more about the Dark Arts.

Right after graduation, he went to the Westbrook Manor with Lena to let her get a few things in order before they left to go on their journey. Though leaving Lena at the mansion would not have at all bothered him, he thought that he should take her with him as he traveled around, as they had been planning to do for several years now. He had told her that they would be together after graduation and, even thought it had not been a promise, he had told her then, and reminded her of several times after that, she had not lost her usefulness to him yet. There were certain things that she still knew more about in regards to the Wizarding world than he did, and that knowledge would certainly be priceless to him. Her love of books, too, would prove useful. And she had certainly become _unconditionally_ loyal to him, though he still had no idea why. Though Lena would never admit it to him, half of her loyalty was somewhat out of fear, for he _had_ already killed four people, he could easily kill her if he wished, and she knew it.

Tom did not want to stay too long at the mansion, though. Lena's father still unnerved him for some reason, and it had only increased once he had come to stay with them before he began his travels. He was not sure he where he was going to go…he would find out when he arrived there. Though Korbin had insisted that they stay the entire summer with him, but Tom wanted to leave at the beginning of July. Mr. Westbrook was clearly upset that he did not want to stay, and seemed nearly enraged that Lena was going to be going with him. Tom tried to just pass it off as a father not wanting to let go of his daughter, but he still felt it was more than that.

Letters came nearly everyday from his old roommates. Crinis Tisserand was already hard at work at his prearranged job in the Ministry, wherever he was working, for he still would not say. Rex Dorian was getting to know the ropes of the _Daily Prophet_'s inner workings. Darcy Macnair had to go through a lot of meetings with Ministry officials, getting ready to take on a job with the Department of International Magical Cooperation as an ambassador. Nathan Lestrange had nearly disappeared, having gotten married to his long time girlfriend Sylvia Danes only a few days after getting out of school and he was currently on his honeymoon and sending _very_ few letters.

Of course, Darcy's letters were quite interesting to Tom. He finally got an answer to a question that had bothered him quite a bit: who was this cousin he had always talked about that lived in Denmark? After he had learned that Grindelwald was in Denmark, he thought that was the answer, especially since Darcy seemed to know quite a bit about the Dark wizard, and Darcy finally told him that, yes, Grindelwald was one of his mother's cousin.

With Macnair's mentioning that his parents still corresponding with associates and friends of Grindelwald, Tom suddenly had a wonderful idea. Though he would have to change his plans slightly, it was better in his opinion to have a destination in mind. It would be a far easier way to start his journey into the Dark Arts anyway. He wrote back to Darcy and asked if there was anyway he could meet these associates of Grindelwald, and Darcy quickly responded with "I've been wondering when you'd ask." And that answer made Tom extremely happy. If he could not have Grindelwald, why not have the next best thing?

The two of them arranged for the Macnairs to come to the Westbrook Manor on the second of July, when Darcy and his parents would have a break from their work. From there they were going to take Tom and Lena to Denmark to meet certain people they thought would help Tom in his study of the Dark Arts. Tom was very thrilled about this, and Lena seemed quite interested in it too, but Korbin had quite the opposite of feelings – for whatever reason.

Rex had also offered in some of his letters to introduce Tom to his grandparents who lived in Rome, for they could introduce him to some Dark wizards they knew there. But, Tom told him that he had another plan at the moment, but would probably take up that offer later. Tom wanted to get to know as many Dark witches and wizards as possible, for he was sure that all of them would be able to teach him different things.

Luckily both of them had taken their Apparation test already (Lena the previous summer and Tom over the Christmas holiday) they did not have to join in the rush of new graduates that had waited past their seventeenth birthdays to be able to Apparate. They were already using that means of travel to go to London to get things that they needed before they left. Lena went about three times as much as Tom.

It was only two weeks after they had graduated when Tom had planned to leave. Soon the second of July was there and the three Macnairs arrived at the Manor about midmorning. Korbin greeted them happily, though Tom knew that he was forcing it. If he had his way, Tom was sure that he would be making Lena stay at home with him. Tom greeted Darcy and his father with a firm handshake each, then looked at his former schoolmate's mother, whom he had never met before. She was a rather stunning Germanic woman with lovely features and long dark brown hair. She was draped in lavender and blue robes with silver pieces of jewelry hanging all over her that were mainly set with emeralds the color of her eyes. He politely kissed her hand, hearing a muffled giggle from Lena.

"So, are you ready to go, then," Darcy asked the two of them.

"Never been more ready," Tom answered with an anticipant smile.

"Then let's go," said Mr. Macnair.

Tom nodded as Lena handed him his broom. At least he would finally be getting _some_ use out of the broom he had bought at the beginning of his second year at Hogwarts. Lena kissed her father's cheek and told him goodbye then they all stepped outside, Tom and Lena mounting their brooms.

The Macnairs walked to a carpet that was hovering in the air, about two feet from the ground. Tom looked at it interested, having never seen a flying carpet before, though he had certainly read about them. With a final wave to Mr. Westbrook, they all took off. They were on their way to Måneby now, the wizard town in Denmark where Grindelwald had been staying – where he had been defeated – and where many of his associates were still residing. It was an all-wizarding community, much like Hogsmeade, but it consisted mostly of those that were involved in the Dark Arts Darcy had told him, and was much smaller.

Tom was full of anticipation. What Darcy had told him about it sounded wonderful. But, as they flew off, he could not help but look back at Korbin, standing by the doorway. He wondered what it really was that had made him not want to let his daughter go with him…


	2. Grindelwald and Dumbledore

A/N : okay, just a quick little thing…when I say "Germanic" I do not mean German…I mean from the lands of and around Germany…to my knowledge, most of those nations (Germany, Denmark, etc.) have pretty similar accents (someone correct me if I'm wrong)…I do hope you can read through the accents, I didn't make them too hard to understand…ENJOY!

Chapter #2 – Grindelwald and Dumbledore

After a nearly day long journey, they touched down in Denmark. Tom had never ridden a broom so long and he was getting quite sore. He actually had to get his balance back once he got on the ground, as did Lena, who had never been on a broom that long either. They both had the idea of getting a flying carpet, which seemed to have not been as harsh on the Macnairs' sense of equilibrium once they were on the ground.

Tom looked around, finding his surroundings were not all that different than what it was like in some parts of England. There was a large forest that surrounded the area that looked very deep, almost like the Forbidden Forest. The main part of the town was only about a hundred yards way from where they had landed. All the houses looked to be made of either stone or brick with wooden beams making geometric shapes in buildings' facades. The streets were smooth cobblestone with drainage ditches running along their edges next to the buildings. There were many witches and wizards milling around between homes and shops. One of the men among them shouted at the five arrivals and ran towards them to greet them.

"Dame Isolda!" The man spoke with hardly an accent at all. He was young (though still older than Tom) and well-built, wearing what looked like woolen robes. He was clean-shaven, tanned, and had short dark brown hair. His features looked as though they had been chiseled somewhat roughly from stone, but it was probably just the result of many harsh winters. "How good to see you again! Come, come…"

Darcy's mother smiled and followed him. The man led them through the crowd, all of who seemed to know the Macnairs, and watched the two strangers with interest. They reached a tavern after a short distance and entered. It was a rather roomy place with the beams above them for the roof exposed. There were two fireplaces crackling merrily at either end of the room. Several wooden tables were scattered around the room with four chairs at most of them.

The man that had lead them there hurried over to a table where there was a group of five men sitting – men that, in Tom's opinion, looked very much like they would have been friends of Grindelwald. They had the same beards and hair, as well as about the same build. "Soren, Gregos, look who's here."

The men at the table all looked up and one stood. "Isolda…dear, how haff you been? Ve thought you might not come back."

"Vell," said Darcy's mother in a voice thick with a Germanic accent, "my son has a friend dat vishes to meet you all. Soren, dis is Tom Riddle."

"Riddle?!"

The young man was shocked when _all_ of the men said that. Had Grindelwald said that much about him? He watched them all, wondering what they were going to say or do.

"You vere the one that Grindelvald talked of so much. Ve are _so_ pleased to meet you."

"Ja, ve dought you might not come here, vhat vid dat Dumbledore's…"

There was an angry grumbling that went around the entire tavern it seemed. Tom fully understood the feeling too, even though he would never admit to actually be peeved over the lose of Grindelwald as a teacher. Yet there were still some questions that he had not had answered, not even by Darcy, that dealt with the Dark Lord that had just been defeated.

"Could any of you tell me exactly what happened to Grindelwald? I know so little about it," he said quietly, knowing by the way they had reacted it was still a very bothersome subject to speak of.

"Ja, come und sit." Soren summoned an extra chair from another table just by pointing at it. "Und I'll tell you vhat happened dat night."

Tom sat and Soren ordered a pint of mead for him. Though he was not really in the mood to be drinking anything (for he had never been one for alcohol), he still tried it and found it was not half bad. While he drank, as did most of the other men at the table, Soren told Tom of what happened. He had not noticed Lena and the Macnairs disappear, he was too wrapped up in hearing about Grindelwald.

"It vos one of dose strangely eerie nights vhen all is quiet, one dat made people dink dat someding ill vos going to happen. Grindelvald had said dat de aura of de night vos one he did not like when he left this table to retire for the night. It vos not long before midnight vhen Dumbledore appeared right outside of the house in vhich Grindelvald vos staying. He politely knocked und all, people said. Vilhelmine, Grindelvald's hauskeeper, opened de door und she knew immediately who it vos. Oh, vhen she screamed, it vos like de entire town voke.

"Grindelvald ran out of his haus und starting dueling vid Dumbledore, right in the middle of de street, still in his nightshirt! Half de town vos out dere in no time, votching und vaiting. Some vere even taking bets, I dink. But vhen Dumbledore cast de Adficos Curse, oh, all de onlookers scattered. Our great Dark Vizard vos den powerless. It's vos not nice to see a vizard's magic sucked out of him like breath. Dumbledore took him to the Ministry headquarters in København, but he had already been punished so dey let him go. He disappeared after dat und right now no one knows vhere he is. Many of his friends are trying to find him. But ve haff had little success so far."

Tom had listened intently, but still, the fact that it had been Dumbledore bothered him still. "What can you tell me about Dumbledore?"

"Oh," one of the other men said, "he is not one to play vith. No, no. He used to be un Auror, und a very good one. He vos very feared until some oracular friend of his told him that he vould be teaching the future Dark Lord at that school in Scotland. He left his job at the British Ministry and vent there to start teaching immediately. Dumb reason to go into teaching, in my opinion. Trying to stop Dark vizards before they become Dark vizards. Vhere's the fun in that?"

All the people around the table had a good chuckle at that, but Tom was thinking. "No, I actually think that he might have just been looking for the student that might end up becoming that new Dark Lord, so he knew who he was, so he might find some weakness that that person had…"

"Eh," Soren said, "could be…could be…"

"So, did anyone know how Dumbledore found Grindelwald?"

"Dere are a lot of rumors about dat. No one really knows for sure."

"Ah, but one of the parts of it dat tends to stay de same is dat he vos told by some spy. But vid all de Aurors dat vere looking for him, vhy dat spy vould haff gone to Dumbledore instead of de Aurors, no one knows."

Oh, Tom knew. He was certain that he knew. It was to show Tom what Dumbledore was made of and what he was capable of. Perhaps it had been to serve as a warning to him. But Tom would not fear the Transfiguration professor, he had no reason to. Tom decided, though, right then, that he would become more powerful than Grindelwald. He would not be so easily defeated by anyone…least of all Dumbledore.

"So vhy haff you sought us out, young Tom," one of the men asked.

"I really just wanted to know what happened. I wanted to come and talk to the people that were friends and associates of Grindelwald. Perhaps even find a teacher among you that might take his place."

"You are still interested in the Dark Arts?"

"Oh, yes, very much so. If anything, my desire to learn has only _increased_ since April."

"Vell, sadly, none of us are good as teachers. Grindelvald vos de one dat vould haff been good for dat."

"I understand. But I am sure there are plenty of other Dark wizards I can learn from. Right?"

"Acutally," Gregos was wagging his finger, seeming to have suddenly thought of something, "I do know of a vizard that lives out in the forest near town. He vos a good friend of Grindelvald, though ve do not know too much about him. He tends to keep to himself most of time. But he might just be able to help you start learning more about the Dark Arts."

Tom was suddenly beaming with joy. His luck was extremely good at the moment. Meeting Grindelwald's friends and possibly having a new teacher dropped into his lap. This was great! He smiled at them all.

Lena suddenly came up behind him and touched his shoulder lightly. He turned to her and she smiled. "It's getting late, Tom, and I'm sure you're tired. If you can pull yourself away from the discussion…"

At her mentioning being tired, he _did_ suddenly feel tired. A massive yawn escaped him and he turned to the others at the table. "If you would excuse me…"

"Oh, ja, go on to bed," Soren said, waving him off.

"Und sleep well," another man said.

"Ve vill be here in de morning."

"Ve are _alvays_ here."

Tom nodded to them and he walked off with Lena. He thought that she would need to get a room first, but she said that she had gotten the room before he sat down to talk to those men. He asked where the Macnairs were and she pointed up the stairs they were climbing. Tom did not say that he had not noticed she was gone, but he knew that she knew it anyway. They settled down in bed together and Tom drifted off to sleep before Lena, tired from the long trip they had made to get there. But in the morning, he would be ready to get into deeper discussions with them, to see what else he might learn.

*********

To my reviewers – 

Aurdomiel, Ravenstar – yes, I know how long you've been waiting – just as long as everyone else…:-P Hmm, Korbin acting strange…you know, that doesn't really mean he's a spy or anything…it could just be he doesn't want to be lonely…after all, he has no one now – wife dead, only child gone off to who-knows-where…I'd want my daughter to stay home in that situation too, most likely…

Lady Mandara Snake – thanks for thinking it's a great start…I did really try…you have no idea how many times I rewrote the first few chapters of this story over the past few months…

lord archimonde – yes, I do realize it's been a month…and I did mean to get the first chapter out sooner than that...but don't worry…as long as nothing happens *crosses fingers* you'll be getting a chapter a week from now on…and I hope I answered your questions in this chapter…and was this chapter long enough for you?

IRM Karmada Dothlthleig – thanks for saying it's a good start…^_^

Liv - *dances* you still love it…YAY!!! Hope you feel that way once chapter 10 or so rolls around…

(insert name here) – I hope it'll prove to be as good (or better) as the previous story as well…but for more than half of this story I have so little information to go on…so I'm really just guessing at stuff that happened…^_^; 


	3. The Darkest Purity

A/N : just a bit of FYI…the Adficos Curse is considered a near Unforgivable Curse…this curse is used to strip/take away/suck out the power of a witch or wizard PERMANENTLY…use of this curse *would* usually carry a hefty sentence in a wizarding prison (as that Azkaban certainly can't be the only one) but in this case, Dumbledore used it on Grindelwald and, so, was not charged with its use…hence, Grindelwald is *not* showing back up (though he will be mentioned a few more times – and his death will be noted when it happens)…

Chapter #3 – The Darkest Purity

Tom woke before Lena the next morning. He was too excited to go back to sleep. He was here…in the very village Grindelwald had been living in. But, as he lay there, reveling in the thought of continuing the previous evening's conversation, he could not help but have a nagging question enter and refuse to leave his mind: _Why_ had Grindelwald been here? Why was he not hiding, away from those that might betray him? He would have to ask Soren and Gregos this. Surely they would know the answer.

It was about forty-five minutes later that Lena woke, hugging Tom tightly and cuddling close. He knew she enjoyed being able to wake with him lying beside her, and he had come to rather like her little morning ritual of her resting on his chest as she cast off the previous night's slumber. He hugged her in return, glad she was still with him. It would feel strange if she had not been there by his side, sharing these experiences with him.

They got out of bed at the same time and dressed, talking about the previous evening when they arrived in Måneby. They went downstairs and Tom was slightly surprised to see the group of wizards he had been talking to last night still sitting around the same table. He wondered for a moment if they had even gone to sleep. But, they had said, after all, that they were _always_ there.

"Come, young Tom," beckoned Gregos.

With a smile, he walked towards them but when he did not hear Lena following him, he turned to her curiously. "Aren't you…"

"It is not my place to join you. This is something you are doing for yourself. I would feel out of place sitting with you as you talk of Grindelwald." She smiled slightly, then took his hand and kissed his palm. "I discussed with Mrs. Macnair about going around the town. I've never been…"

"Shopping here," Tom said, slightly annoyed.

"No, that's not it. Here," she took out her coin purse and gave it to him, "take it so you know I won't buy anything. I just want to look around the town and see what there is to see."

Tom was utterly shocked. He was at a loss for words. All he could do was gape at her, which made her give an exasperated sigh.

"I shall see my lord this afternoon."

As soon as he nodded, she swept over to where the Macnairs were sitting. He nodded to Darcy then the four of them left the tavern. Though he had her gold in his hand, he wondered if she might still get things. Of course, once she knew where all the shops were, she could spend her money faster anyway. Shrugging, he pocketed the purse and joined the table he had been at before.

"Gut morning, Tom," all the men said as he sat down.

"'Morning."

"You slept vell, I hope," Gregos said jovially.

"Quite well."

"Vot vuld you like for breakfast," a middle-aged woman asked as she appeared by his side, smiling down at him.

"Er…" Tom felt his stomach churn with hunger. He had not eaten much the previous day. "Anything would be fine. I'm not that picky."

The woman smiled again then bustled off towards the bar, which she disappeared behind to go to the kitchen.

"So," Soren studied him for a moment, "do you haff any new questions to ask us now dat you haff had a good night's rest?"

"Actually, I do."

"Den do ask."

"Why was it that Grindelwald was here? I mean, being in a village is an easy way to be found."

"Ah, I see. Ja, you don't know dat much about dis town." Soren smiled slightly. "Måneby is un all-vizard village. Most of de people here are related or are very gut friends. Grindelvald trusted all of us. Ve vuld nefer haff betrayed him. Dat vuld be like betraying ourselves, you know."

Tom nodded, this was a very good reason and he understood it quite well. But he still wonder if the traitor might have been one of them.

"He grew up in this town," said one of the older men in the group, "und I grew up vith him. He vos two years ahead of me at Durmstrang, but being from the same town ve vere good friends there. Such a brilliant young student."

A smile crept across Tom's face. It seemed very nice to have Grindelwald called a "brilliant" student, for he too had been called brilliant ever since his first year. It made him feel that he was truly on the same path as Grindelwald had been. It made him feel like he really did have what it took to become like Grindelwald…but, even as that thought came to him, he realized that he did not want to be like Grindelwald at all. He wanted to have more power, more _influence_.

"…und so great at de Dark Arts from his childhood, ja?"

Hearing this snapped Tom's attention back to the group around him, not knowing how much of the conversation he had missed. He had been a little too lost in his thoughts. He often got that way when he thought of the plans he had, that he would implemented in the future. But so much still need to be accomplished before that.

"I heard Grindelwald was considered one of the greatest Dark wizards of the last century."

"Vell, Grindelvald _did_ call himself a Dark vizard…und he certainly did _practice_ the Dark Arts, but he thought of himself as more of a purist than a Dark vizard. He vos tired of seeing more und more Mudbloods filling schools around here. There vos even talk of allowing them into Durmstrang!"

At this there was much muttering and a few curses said. Of what Tom knew of Durmstrang, he knew this was certainly not a good thing. Durmstrang was one of the few schools left in Europe that still only allowed purebloods as students (with the _occasional_ halfblood).

"All de talk of dem admitting Mudbloods vos mainly taking place vile Grindelvald vos still teaching dere…"

Tom was rather interested in this bit of information, as that he had never heard that before. "Grindelwald taught at Durmstrang?"

"Ja. Vos a great teacher for Charms vork. He could haff been headmaster but, vell, he left to start his dealings vith that Muggle, Hitler…"

There were more mumbling about this and he completely understood why: Hitler had been Grindelwald's downfall in a way, even though what he understood of his plans was actually quite ingenious. Letting a Muggle do most of the dirty work was brilliant, but there were so many things that could go wrong with that. And there was no way Tom would do that when it came time for him to carry out his plans finally.

"Of course, he has several abilities dat made him right for being a Dark vizard anyway."

"Ja, like his aura sight."

"Just like Dumbledore," Tom said under his breath, more to himself than those around him.

One of the other men at the table shook his head, having heard Tom. "Oh, no, Dumbledore can't see auras."

Tom looked abashed. "Then how…"

"He knows how to do someding called legilimency. He can sense dings in others, like emotions und intentions und de like. It's very hard to learn, legilimency…"

"Not to mention practically illegal to practice in nearly ever part of the world."

"Why's that?"

"Those that are experts at it, like Dumbledore, can nearly hear one's thoughts, und they don't need to make eye contact to see into the person's mind. It's not seen as a very acceptable or ethical thing to do. It is often connected vith the Dark Arts, like aura sight, vhich surprises me as to vhy Dumbledore vould practice it."

So…that's how he had done it. Professor Dumbledore _had_ been able to read his mind, well, in a way. But, because it was not an art that was "acceptable" he could not use it as proof as to what he, Tom, had been doing during his years at Hogwarts. That would certainly explain many things that had happened since he had changed to be the Transfiguration teacher. But exactly how much of what Tom had planned at school had Dumbledore picked up on?

"But speaking of the Dark Arts und teachers," Gregos smiled, "vuld you like to go see Rauthuell now?"

*********

To my reviewers – 

RivanKnight - ^_^ *eating toffees* Thanks!

lord archimonde – nope, the wizard in the woods isn't Grindelwald…you'll be meeting him in the next chapter, though…how was this chapter's length?

Aurdomiel, Ravenstar - #1 suspect, eh? *shrugs* Have it your way…Adficos Curse was already explained to you and at the beginning of this chapter…and don't be making fun of German accents…I think they're cool…

Liv – no no no…not just 10 chapters…I'd never be able to pull of so much time in so few chapters…chapter 10 is about where things start going a bit nutty…in my opinion at least…this story will be about as long as the previous one, close to 56 chapters or so…about half of the story will be his traveling around (his "missing years") and the other half will be between his return to England and the aftermath of the Potters…

(insert name here) – AU, eh? It already *is* AU…I seriously doubt that Tom/Voldemort has a lady/concubine/mistress in Rowling's mind in actuality…if he does, I'll flip my lid…but I do prefer to stay as accurate to what she might write as possible…I don't want to be TOO off the mark with him…I don't like making my characters too OOC…and I'm glad you still think it's very good…^_^…and I liked what you said about Dumbledore…it does put a lot of weight of what happened/will happen on his shoulders…he could have saved him…dang, I should have put up that one-shot I had with Tom, Dumbledore, and the Mirror of Erised set in his early 5th year…that would have made your comment even more interesting…^_~


	4. Rauthuell’s Knowledge

Chapter #4 – Rauthuell's Knowledge

An elated grin crossed Tom's face. "Of course I want to go see him."

"Alright then." Gregos stood but the oldest of the group, the one that had grown up with Grindelwald, caught his arm. "Vhot?"

"You know dat Rauthuell doesn't like you."

"So?"

"So?! Are you sure it is vise to take young Riddle to see him?"

"He vos part of the Elite Seiben, Josef. He vould vont to see Tom at least, vouldn't he?"

Josef tilted his head in a sort of nod. "Dat is true."

"Und he vouldn't attack anyvay. He only threatens."

"Be it on your head if anyding happens, dough." Soren smiled as they made to leave the tavern. "But you are right. He hasn't killed or maimed anyone lately."

The young man swallowed hard. "Killed? Maimed?"

"Ja. He used to haff a bad temper." Gregos began leading him from the tavern. "After vhot happened to Grindelvald, though, he seems to haff calmed down considerably, but he's also keeping to himself more than usual."

Tom blinked as he stepped out into the bright morning sunlight. "So why doesn't he like you?"

"Ve…uh…vell, ve had a small incident vhen I…er…"

"You stole something of his, didn't you," Tom asked with a smirk.

"It vos only some herbs. Und he lives in the middle of the forest. How vos I to know that I vos on _his_ property?"

"And what is the Elite Seiben?"

"Ah, ja, I keep forgetting you don't know about some things. Vell, they _vere_ a group started by Grindelvald, but now all but two of them are dead or powerless. There vere seven of them, including Grindelvald. They vere all friends from Durmstrang. Originally they vent about trying to purify to vizarding race in northern Europe, but they vere faced with many difficulties. Two vere killed the first year. Those that remained fought against the admittance of Mudbloods into some of the more prominent schools of vitchcraft in Europe, but it did not vork vell. In the end, Grindelvald vent about carrying out his plan to _force_ the prohibition of Mudbloods in our schools. But he did not succeed there either. Now all but Rauthuell are gone. But at least ve all know Durmstrang is safe. A new headmaster vos appointed two years ago und he's not going to admit _any_ Mudbloods to his school."

"Grindelwald was quite adamant against Mudbloods then?"

"He vos against all those vith non-pure blood."

Tom froze. Grindelwald had been against _halfbloods_ too? Then why had he been so keen to teach him? He had told the Dark wizard a couple of times about his being a halfblood. Granted, he had also told him of the situation he had grown up in, and how much he hated Muggles. Had Grindelwald liked him _that_ much that he could overlook Tom's impurity? Or could it have simply been the fact that he had told Grindelwald about who his ancestor was? Did he perhaps have a respect for Salazar Slytherin? Or was it something else? He would probably never know, though he wished he could find out somehow.

"Tom!" Lena came running over to him. It seemed strange for her not to have a bag of goods swinging from her arm. "Where are you going? Have you finished talking with them already?"

"I am taking him to see Rauthuell."

The young witch looked at Gregos slightly shocked. "Rauthuell? Rauthuell Geist?"

"You know him then?"

"He's a friend of my father's. I didn't know he lived in town. I'd have gone to see him."

"He doesn't live _in_ town. He lives out in the forest vhere he can be alone."

"Ah, I see." Lena smiled at Tom hopefully. "Could I go with you? I rarely get to see him and I really rather like him."

"You can come if you want to," Gregos said.

Still smiling, she turned towards the shop she had just left and waved to the Macnairs. "I'll see you later this evening."

"Very vell, Miss Vestbrook," called Mrs. Macnair, waving back.

Lena seemed in the highest of spirits she had been in since graduation. She took Tom's arm and walked with them, a smile on her face. Tom watched her, slightly fascinated by the way she was acting. Was this really just because they were going to see this Rauthuell?

"What's so great about this Rauthuell that you want to see him so badly?"

There was a sly, knowing smile on her face. "You'll see."

As the three of them ventured out into the forest towards the house that Rauthuell lived in, Gregos told them about certain things about the forest and the area. He explained about the giants that lived in the area, suggesting they stay away from them as that they were rather violent and nearly invulnerable to magic. He warned them to stay clear of a certain hillock, where resided a large group of huldrafolk, nasty creatures that cursed any human that ventured too close to their home. He also mentioned some nokkes that had come into the area a few years previous from Sweden that had caused many wizards to become lost seeking out the source of the lovely song they produced.

After about an hour of walking, they could see a house emerge from the thick of trees. Tom could understand why Gregos had not known where Rauthuell's property ended and the forest began for there was no wall around the stone building. A stream of smoke was rising steadily from the chimney. For the most part, it looked rather inviting with its rather warm look to it, but Gregos was trembling just a bit.

"Vell, this is it, then."

Determinedly, he walked towards the front door but it opened before he reached it. He froze three feet from the door, staring at it. Tom stopped behind him, Lena still hold his arm. She seemed more excited than puzzled though. The three of them looked at the doorway for a while, not moving.

"If you are going to come in, come in! I am not going to leave it open all day!"

The voice only held a hint of Germanic accent, and it actually surprised Tom that the man spoke in English. Most of the time he had heard people speaking in German or Danish unless it was for him to hear specifically. Did this person know that two of the people there did not know much of either language?

Shaking slightly, Gregos stepped over the threshold with Tom and Lena close behind him. When Tom entered, his senses were completely overwhelmed. Different colors were everywhere, coming from book covers, jars of potions ingredients, and magical devices. The scent of hundreds of herbs engulfed him, making him go into a slight sneezing fit. Devices were whirring and clicking all around. The very air held a strange, vibrating quality to it. All in all, it was perfect to make one of his horrible headaches start to develop. But his determination to meet Rauthuell would defeat any pain at the moment.

Lena too was rather overwhelmed by the room, but it was mainly from the heavy perfume from the herbs and oil. She was feeling horribly lightheaded, but she, like Tom, wanted to see Rauthuell more than anything. She would not let a little thing like feeling a little queasy stop her from seeing him.

"So what is it this time, Gregos?" The man speaking was half hidden behind an elaborate set of glass beakers, vials, and spiraling tubes. His hair was horribly greasy, which made it look black, though Tom was sure that was not its true color. His dark brown eyes were narrowed, concentrating on the mixture he was making. "And who are these Brits you have brought with you?"

"Vell, um, I haff brought young Tom Riddle to see…"

"I remember him from Korbin's party last Yuletide." He added a drop of green liquid to the vial he was holding, not looking away from it. "What is he _here_ for?"

"Vell, you know he vos supposed to be Grindelvald's apprentice…"

"Perhaps." He watched the pale yellow liquid in the vial turn garnet. "Why is he here? I am not Grindelwald."

"Ve vere thinking…"

The wizard turned to them, his eyes blazing. "_You_ were thinking, Gregos? That is certainly a first."

The wizard that had brought Tom was taken aback. "I…vell, I…"

Rauthuell's eyes fell over Lena and he set down the vial, emerging from behind the table with his elaborate potions equipment on it. His black robes looked heavily worn and stained, with even a few holes it seemed, possibly from acids and poisons. "Miss Westbrook, my dear, how are you?"

"I am well," she said a little timidly.

The Dark wizard took her hands, kissing them both, his face beaming. "As radiant in the summer as in the winter. My word, what a woman you have become."

Lena blushed nearly as red as the mixture he had just made. "Why thank you."

Tom, on the other hand, was going red for another reason. He did not like being ignored or being treated like he was unworthy of anything. He was just as worthy as Lena to have attention given him, if not more so in this situation.

"This young man here," he glanced at Tom then focused his attention fully back onto her, "he is your lover, correct?"

The young woman suddenly realized how Tom had to be feeling when she glanced at his red face, and she really wanted to give the attention she was getting to him. He was the real reason they were there after all. "In a way, yes, he is."

"And do you think him worthy to be an apprentice to the last of the Elite Sieben?"

"I don't see why not. He _was_ to be Grindelwald's pupil…after all."

"Hmm." The man turned to Tom, studying him more closely. "That is true. And he always spoke so highly of you. Gave you a copy of his grimoire, didn't he. That's a rare treat."

"Yes, and I found it quite interesting. The things that he taught me by giving that to me were quite the gift."

"But he is with us no more, all because of one of your teachers from that school you came from that is overrun with Mudbloods."

"A problem _I_ will hopefully diminish in the future," Tom said, a slightly evil smirk on his face.

"Oh, and you think that you will be the one to cleanse your school, hm?"

"I do hope that it shall be. I know of no one else that plans to do so."

Rauthuell had a smile cross his face. There was something in his dark brown eyes that suddenly seemed to brighten to Tom. "Grindelwald was so right about you. You would have been a great member of our group, had you been with us at Durmstrang all those years ago. Because of that, and because Grindelwald would have wanted me to, I will teach you, young Mr. Riddle."

The headache that had been developing from the heavily perfumed air suddenly vanished in the rush of joy that flooded him. "Thank you!"

"There is no thanks needed, but I insist you being your lessons immediately. I expect hard work out of you." He headed back to the potion he had been working on. "There is room in the loft for you and Miss Westbrook to stay. I would suggest you retrieving anything you need from town and returning here as soon as you can."

It took no time for Tom and Lena to return to the tavern and collect their things. Lena had to run and tell the Macnairs that she would not be accompanying them any more, and to thank them for their bringing them there. Tom sat down to have one last conversation with Soren's group, which was still sitting downstairs at the tavern. After about an hour, he headed back to Rauthuell's home, ready to begin his learning.

Tom had thought, that after seeing Rauthuell working with potions, that his new teacher would be increasing his knowledge of such mixtures, but he could not be more incorrect. Rauthuell was actually a master at transfiguration. This did not bode well with Tom at first, having the memory of Dumbledore still fresh in his mind, but his new teacher was far from being what Dumbledore had been.

Aside from being an eagle animagus, which took a great talent at transfiguration in the first place, Rauthuell was also great at other human transformations, which was the main thing he was going to be teaching Tom, and which would take a long time to learn properly. Tom knew that these lessons would prove useful, and he was actually enjoying practicing transfiguration for once.

Lessons went nearly all day, giving Tom little time to study any other type of magic. But finally getting some excellent practice in with transfiguration, actually learning things that were _useful_ for a change, was well worth not doing anything else. He started making excellent progress in the first few months, which only made Rauthuell push him harder.

And with all the lessons and the often times very stuffy rooms filled with the scents of brewing potions, Tom's headaches came back full force. He had managed to not have any while he was at Lena's home, but he really had not been doing much when he had been there. Most of the time he just had to grit his teeth and continue with the lesson Rauthuell was giving him, for once his teacher started a lesson, he did not give Tom a break except to relieve himself.

The only time Tom got any breaks was when his teacher went to the village, though Tom usually went with him. He would often return to the tavern to talk to Soren and Gregos about the latest news or revisit the old topics. They would especially discuss the "rights" of purebloods and how all over the world it seemed that Mudbloods were taking over. He often met new people, people that Tom thought were even more heavily into the Dark Arts than the men he sat around the table with so often. Sometimes Rauthuell would join in these conversations, but it was far more common for him to go to purchase the things he needed then come to fetch Tom when he had finished.

One topic they only mentioned a few times, and that sprang up just over a month after Tom arrived there, was the end of the Muggle's war in the East with the help of some horrible creation of theirs that leveled two cities and killed tens of thousands. It was apparently called an "atomic bomb" but few wizards understood much about it. One of Tom's companions, Josef, said that it was only proof of Muggles' need for control, for their "science" was getting too much out of hand. One of the times this was discussed, Tom's mind wandered into how _he_ could be the one that controlled the Muggles, but it was pretty much a fleeting thought.

Overall, the time he would have been spending with Grindelwald was still being very well used. Slowly the first year of his learning under Rauthuell drifted by, and he had learned things that he would have never have learned from Dumbledore's classes, things that only those that did not fear using more "questionable" methods of magic would do. His teacher was rather impressed with his desire to learn these things, and gladly taught him everything he knew. But Rauthuell knew that his knowledge of such things was only so extensive and there would be a time when his teaching this wonderful pupil would have to end. Until then, though, he would not let Tom rest a single day, for he had a growing desire to make Tom into another Grindelwald so the magical world would finally be cleansed.

*********

To my reviewers – 

Aurdomiel, Ravenstar – what was it with the whole purse thing? Lena's a horrible shopaholic! So, to prove to Tom that she wasn't going to spend any money, she gave him her purse so she had no money on her…and I offered you that compromise the first day we had the argument over James, my dear, and you shunted me…:-P You ramble too much…and I _did_ update on a Tuesday, just not LAST Tuesday…:-P :-P

Liv – no, as I said last chapter, I couldn't get all I wanted to get covered done in 10 chapters…heck, I don't even have Tom leaving Europe until after chapter 10 and he does a LOT of traveling around, you know…and I should be posting once a week until I get finished with writing all of this part…I _do_ always like to have lots of chapters written to fall back on if I get writer's block and I'm currently working jointly on chapters 16 and 17…so if I _do_ start posting more than one chapter a week, it's because I've gotten finished with the second part (or am nearly done)…

lord archimonde – more Icelandic, eh? Tried to translate it again and failed miserably again…*sigh*…oh well…and if this chapter wasn't long enough for you, then I'll be shocked…this is the longest chapter I've gotten written so far I believe and this is over 5 pages (2500 words) long…

Lady Mandara Snake - ^_^ glad you're liking it so much, hope you continue to enjoy…

(insert name here) – still anonymous, eh? You'd like to read the one shot? Okay…I might put it up, though it needs a bit of reworking now that I have other ideas for my story too, so I'll get to editing that and try to get it up next week the same time I update this story…I'll be sure to tell you the title and all when it's up. Magic is not really "good" or "bad", per say…though certain ones, like the Killing Curse {and curses typically in general} are bad…it is more the intent behind it…the energy is neutral until you use it…but, magic is magic, that's one of the things Tom learns later on. And, like you said about Dumbledore, yes, that much perfection would have to be an act…I think there's something Darker about him that he's not letting on to very much (i.e. – the twinkle in his eye over Voldemort's return and his "persuading" Kreacher {the way Rowling said that just doesn't set well with me and made me start thinking more about him in general})…and as for reconciling the two "parts" of Albus? Well, you'll just have to keep reading to find out because that's part of the later plot development…^_~

RivanKnight – "so that's the reason"??? *blinks* Um, never mind…and, yes, things ARE looking up for Tom for the moment…but things can't always be peachy…things start changing a bit in the upcoming chapters…


	5. Accusations

A/N : Okay, this is just a note for all of you. Yes, I know a lot of time is getting skipped, but do you _really_ all want to read about all the things that Tom's learning when I could just summarize it all for you and save time/space? I mean, I have 22 years to cover of his "missing" years and I don't want the entire story to be nothing but his studying, that'd be a bit boring. This will be the first half of the story (about 27 chapters). The rest is going to be the approximately 15 years from his return to England to the follow-up after the Potters (which might actually end up being longer than the estimated 29 chapters for it). So, if there are any other readers out there of mine that agree with what RudyCholo said, I do _sincerely_ apologize. This is just he way the story has turned out and I'm sorry if this throws you. I do plan, later in the story, to give you a summary/timeline for all the years covered so you don't get too lost when it comes to the time passage here. But, hey, just wait till the third part – that'll be about forty chapters and only cover _three_ years. Talk about your detail. On with the story!!!

Chapter #5 – Accusations

It did not seem like more than four years had passed since he had begun learning from Rauthuell. Time had certainly flown. And, yet, he knew he had learned a considerable amount from his teacher in that space of time. He had actually grown to _love_ transfiguration, something that seven years at Hogwarts had not accomplished – but that was mainly because of the professors that had taught him previous. And the animagus transformation was something he was considering learning.

Rauthuell had slowly begun to run out of things to teach his student, but he knew that he had taught Tom far more than the young wizard had thought there could be. Transfiguration was a branch of magic that did not seem to be all that useful for those that had not delved deeper into its study, but there were ways that any type of magic could be developed to fill anyone's purposes.

It was also very evident to Tom that his teacher was becoming thin on incantations to teach him. He had a feeling that it would also be time to leave once that time came. He had kept in close contact with all his old schoolmates since he had left England and with as much as Rex had been bugging him to go meet his grandparents in Italy, Tom thought that once he left Denmark, that would be the next place he headed. He had second thoughts, though, once he told Lena.

"Italy?!" There was a huge smile on her face. "Then I can go to Rome. I've only ever been to Aurorius Villa once. It's such a great…"

"Lena, you've done enough shopping already to last a lifetime."

The young witch looked at him for a moment, seemingly abashed. "No, I haven't."

Tom looked towards the several piles of books she had nearly stacked to the ceiling on one side of their loft room…and the books were only part of what she had been spending bags of gold on. "What more is there to buy?"

A look somewhere between shock and annoyance crossed her face for a moment before she responded simply: "Loads of things."

And shaking his head, he finished responding to the latest letter to Rex and sent it off before heading downstairs for his lessons. He could not believe how much Lena had spent in four years. Though her family _was_ swimming in gold, it was no reason for her to try and spend it _all_. But if her father sent her the money, he guessed he really could not say much about it. If he thought she was not spending too much, then there must not really be a problem.

It was only a few months later, in the autumn of the year, when Rauthuell finally reached the end of his own grimoire. To his teacher, it was a rather sad event, closing his grimoire for the last time in teaching Tom for he knew his student's plans were already made to leave for Italy. He was sure it would be a sad parting, at least on his part, for he had enjoyed teaching the young wizard, knowing what it had been that his old friend had seen in him. Grindelwald had been right to want to take this talented young man under his tutelage.

Once Lena had finished the potion she had been working on, she and Tom said their farewells to Rauthuell. They returned to Måneby to stay for a while, to talk to all of his old friends, who still sat around the same table at the tavern talking about nearly the same thing. They were pleased that Tom was back to talk with them every day now, but they were saddened to find out that he was soon going to be leaving them.

As the short time Tom had passed before the Dorians were expecting him in Rome, most of the old topics were revisited. There was still the major problem of Mudbloods overrunning most of the smaller national schools across the Continent. A new headmaster at Durmstrang was had assured pureblooded families that the school would remain pureblood as long as he was headmaster. There was much rejoicing when this was announced.

It was only a few days before he was planning to leave when a new face appeared in the tavern. Most of the men at the table greeted him warmly, but there were a few that were looking at him almost nervously, glancing at Lena a few times, as that she was actually there and not off shopping more. The blonde haired man did not seem to be paying any attention to anyone at the moment besides Josef and his brother Fritz.

Tom took the time to study him. His hair was a bit untidy, looking as though he had just flown there after a long journey. His skin was pale, though there were the signs of sunburn creeping up on his face and hands. He rather looked like a man that had once been quite robust that had very quickly lost weight, for his skin sagged in places and his green eyes seemed sunken in some. He was dressed in heavy robes that were trimmed in copious amounts of fur, which was probably because he had flown and the air was starting to get rather cold.

After a few more minutes and a short bout of laughter from him and some of the men there, he turned his attention to the rest of the table. He saw, for the first time it seemed, the two people that were strangers to him. His eyes stayed on Tom only a moment, seeming to go automatically to Lena. The newcomer looked her over, studying her intently with his recessed green eyes. He seemed to have come to some _shocking_ conclusion, as his eyes widened then narrowed. His gaze really bothered Lena, but his prolonged silence was even more annoying to her.

"So vhy is _she_ here?" He was addressing Soren, acting as though Lena were not there now. "You know vhot I dink of…"

"Ja, Karl, ve _do_ know," several of the men said together, seeming a bit bored with him and whatever he thought.

"Might I ask what you have against me, Sir," she asked so coldly several of the people around the table, including Tom, looked at her with surprise.

"I haff noding against you, Miss_ Vestbrook_, it is your fader I haff de problem vid."

With a nearly appalled look, she exhaled loudly, a muscle at the edge of her mouth twitching slightly, eyes narrowed. "And _why_ do you have _anything_ against my father?"

Karl seemed completely unaffected by her coldness, though to everyone else it felt like a strong winter gale has just blown into the tavern. Tom did not even know why she was acting this way, but she always _did_ seem a bit edgy when someone spoke of her father poorly.

"Because," he said casually but still firmly, "he is not trustvordy."

"And _why_ do you say this," she spat.

"Because he is a traitor und a spy," he said slowly, sure to emphasize _every_ word, looking her straight in the eyes without blinking.

What happened then was done with in a fraction of a second but it had felt like an eternity. Lena had nearly flung herself fully across the table at Karl. The candles at the center of the table flew at Josef, nearly setting his robes on fire. Everyone was shouting, standing up, trying to pull them apart. Everyone in the tavern was looking at them. Tankards of ale and mead were now on the floor, their contents soaking the floor. Karl was struggling to get Lena's hands from around his neck, as were Fritz and Gregos. Tom grabbed her and pulled her away, though she was still clawing the air, wanting to finish strangling him.

"How _dare_ you!" She was fighting to get out of Tom's tight grasp, her face scarlet in rage. "You sit there accusing _my_ father of such…such _horrendous_ things!"

"It vos your fader dat told Dumbledore vhere to find Grindelvald!" Fritz and Gregos were holding him back, for he wanted to start a duel with here right there. "It vos he…"

"You lying son of a bitch!" She struggled more, screaming, clawing at Tom's arms to release her. "Let me go! Let me _kill_ him!"

"Lena," her lord told her quietly into her ear, ignoring the stinging in his arms were she had nearly drawn blood, "calm yourself. _Calm_…"

And as though he had done a spell on her, she fell limp in his arms, leaning her head back on his chest, closing her eyes. He wanted her to calm down, and so she would…as long as he held her at least. If he let go, she would go at Karl again. But she was sure that Tom knew that it was better if he continue to hold her tightly, for he was not relaxing his grip in the slightest.

"Karl! Out!" Soren looked infuriated, pointing to the door to the street. "Out!"

"I tell de truth und you kick me out! Very vell, den. But one day," he was waging his finger at Tom and Lena, "…one day you vill regret it!"

As he stormed out, Tom could not help but feel that he was telling the truth. It seemed to make sense…so much sense. But, with the way Lena had reacted to the accusation, he was not likely to voice his opinion any time soon in her presence. He did not want her to get _that_ violent with him. He was also sure that saying such things would make her leave him, and he had not finished using her quite yet.

The tension from that meeting slowly ebbed during the remainder of the afternoon. Everyone seemed a bit uneasy about talking with Lena any so she ended up going out to shop, still fuming slightly. That was one of the few times that Tom did not actually mind her going out to shop, which gave him time to ask what that entire thing was about. Soren explained to him that Karl had been on about Korbin being the traitor that gave away Grindelwald's whereabouts, for it was said that Grindelwald had sent his last letter to Korbin through one of the Westbrooks' own owls.

Tom suddenly began to wonder if that could be true. Dumbledore and Korbin had been talking before the Leaving Feast years ago. Korbin had certainly overheard Grindelwald telling him, Tom, to send an owl of Korbin's once he had graduated and he would tell where he was. Could they have been planning all of it? Did they use _him_ to allow Dumbledore to get to Grindelwald? A slight scowl formed on Tom's face, which made Soren ask what was wrong, but Tom brushed him off, but continued to mull over the possibility of it the rest of the day.

*********

To my reviewers – 

All of you – *evil grin* think you have all the answers now, do you? Now come on, I can't make it _that_ easy for you, can I?

Liv – yes, chapter 16…STILL…*sigh*…but I'll get finished with it…then have trouble with chapter 17…^_~…and you know what you could say instead of "I loved it" all the time? Tell me what you loved about it…:-P

RudyCholo – I am glad you've been a long time reader…and it's fine you haven't reviewed before…you're there in my enhanced stats, you know…^_^…and I'm very very very flattered that you think this is a good fic, though I know there are still a good many problems with it…I do hope I addressed your concern about the time passage in this story in my author's note (I thought it should be addressed to everyone in case anyone else might wonder)…and I'm sure you were bothered by FOUR years passing here…^_^;; Well, like I said, do you _really_ want to see all the details about his studying? That'd get rather boring and repetitive to me…and frankly, my imagination just isn't big enough to cover all the things he _could_ learn…I'm trying to stay as "indepth" as possible, but, this is a big task…I have 27 years to cover in this part of the fic – from his leaving Hogwarts to the trails of his Death Eaters after his fall…it's going to go fast…be careful not to get left behind…^_~…and I _do_ hope you'll continue to enjoy this story…

(insert name here) – okay, just one question…is this someone that knows me _personally_ by the name Sati? You just seem like some of my friends with that "I'd still be anonymous for all the truth it would hold" comment, is all…^_^ The one-shot, while not being posted today, will hopefully be up this weekend and the title will be "The Riddle and the Mirror"…just a little more tweaking is all I need…my casual treatment of the bomb is more tied to them not really caring much (though I guess they should have)…

lord archimonde – "questionable"…as in "things that Dark wizards do"…hmm, could have phrased it differently, I guess…*shrugs*…oh well…1830 words? Good length? ^_^ And more Icelandic, eh? *goes off to find a spell so she can learn the language instantly*

Lady Mandara Snake – more Tom/Lena? Um…*looks at upcoming chapters*…nope…no real Tom/Lena stuff…it's mainly all Tom and his studying…sorry…*frowns*

Aurdomiel, Ravenstar – and just what did you think of THIS chapter? Eh? *cackles evilly* Think you've figured it all out? Think you have your proof? It's still rumors! :-P Nothing is going to be 100% known for sure until much later…and you'll actually be surprised by what you find out. Just wait…it gets better…*evil grin*

RivanKnight – yes, he's interesting, but no longer in the story…*sigh*…so many people coming and going in this story…though I try to make them memorable…


	6. The Dorians and Cavius’ Lair

A/N : Alright, just so you aren't lost with how much time's gone by in the story thus far, this is the current summary…Tom and Lena are now 22 and it's the fall of 1949, four years after they've graduated…

Chapter #6 – The Dorians and Cavius' Lair

When they left Denmark four days later, it was to many fond and sad farewells. They had spent almost four and a half years there and they had both come to regard it as something like a home. Most of the people they knew wanted to buy them food and drink, but they had to leave. The trip to Rome from Måneby was nearly twice the distance from the Westbrooks' manor to Måneby. It would take them nearly twenty hours of traveling to reach the capital of Italy.

Bundled up against the harsh cold that signaled the approach of winter, they set out early in the morning, hoping to get a good distance before they had to stop for the night, if they did stop. It was a silent day, but the scenery was more than enough to keep them occupied. Tom particularly liked the areas they passed over where damage from the war was still visible. By midday they had already begun their passage over the Alps, which made the air even colder than it had been when they left from Denmark, but they were warm enough from all the wool and furs they had on that they were well protected from the harsh conditions.

All too soon darkness began to fall. With it being nearly winter, the days were not as long as they had been when they had originally left England. The good thing was, they were reaching the milder side of the Alps. That meant that they were at least _near_ the Italian boarder. They only had a little way to go, only a few more hours. But, with both of them yawning, they did not know if they would be able to make it before exhaustion overtook them. Tom's head had begun to throb because of the long journey and he longed for bed.

With the warmer air reaching them, they took off their heaviest coat and magicked them into their trunks. They felt very relieved to have them off, they had been weighing them down greatly. Lena stretched, taking both of her hands off her broom, but not slipping a bit. Tom only looked towards the horizon, wondering how much longer they would have to travel, for his bum was killing him.

Suddenly, an owl flew up to Tom, nearly colliding with him it was going so fast. Tom stopped his broom and the eagle owl settled down on its handle, hooting at him. Lena came up beside him and looked at the situation. There was a note tied to its leg, which it was holding out to Tom.

"It must be from Rex's grandparents."

With a nod, Tom lit his wand, took the letter, and read it silently. "They want us to follow the owl. It'll take us straight to the Dorians."

"That's nice of them." Lena smiled. "Let's go then."

Feeling a renewed sense of alertness, Tom nodded. The owl instantly flew off when it saw this and began to lead them to its home. On through the night, past the time the half moon rose well after midnight they flew southward. There were some larger Muggle towns than what they had flown over most of the day under them now, their lights glowing in the darkness.

The waning quarter moon was nearly to its peak by the time the owl started to descend. Tom and Lena followed it, gaining speed as they headed towards the ground. They were headed for a large villa below. As the two on brooms slowed to keep from smashing into the patio the owl was headed towards, the bird flew through the door that opened out onto it. Not sure if they should land or not, they stayed hovering a few feet from the edge of the patio's edge.

After a moment of waiting, an elderly woman in lilac robes, a wineglass in her hand, emerged onto the patio. She smiled at the pair still on their brooms and walked towards them, her eyes twinkling. "Our grandson has told us many wonderful things about you, Mr. Riddle, Miss Westbrook. Please, please, do come in. I am sure that you are both very tired."

Doing as she requested, they landed and dismounted their brooms. They followed her into a lovely sitting room decorated in vivid reds and purples. There were a large number of pillows tossed about the room, making it look quite inviting to the tired pair. They were nearly to the point of just falling down here and sleeping.

"Daem," Mrs. Dorian called before lifting the glass to her lips to take a sip of wine.

A snout-nosed house elf appeared at her side, bowing low. "Yes, Mistress?"

"These two will be our guests for a few days, please take them to the room you prepared earlier today."

"Yes, Mistress." The elf turned to them with her oddly brilliant blue eyes. "Come with me, please."

The house elf led them out of the room and into an open-air corridor. They were headed for a room that sat positioned over the cliff the main part of the house was built on. She reached the door to the room and opened it for them, bowing them in. Lena entered first and gazed about, her mouth slightly opened.

"Wow…"

Tom was silent as he looked around at the blue and lavender décor of the room. There were many large pillows piled on the floor here too. The bed was canopied with lavender curtains. The bed itself was fitted with blue and lavender geometric designs, making it look a bit like mosaic work. Landscapes hung on the wall, depicting ancient Roman temples and buildings.

"It is rather lovely."

"I will bring you breakfast if you want it. My mistress said that they are planning to take you to the Villa tomorrow to give you today to rest from your long journey. Please, do sleep well."

And with that, the elf left them. By the time that Tom had turned around from seeing her go, Lena had already collapsed, still dressed, onto the bed and fallen asleep. He smirked at her then his mind wondered to what had happened only a few days before. He had not thought of it much since that afternoon, either. Was Korbin a spy? Was Lena in on it with him? Could he trust her? He watched her for a moment, pondering it. If he could not trust her, then she needed to be gotten rid of. But what other than her incessant letter writing to her father was there that would make him think she was betraying him…or was that enough?

Thinking he was too tired from the day's journey to really be worrying over that at the moment, Tom too headed for the bed and lay down by Lena. It had been a very long day and he ached all over. It only took him a few moments to go to sleep, and he too slept in his clothes. They both needed their rest, for there was not telling what the next few days might bring for them.

***

After two good nights of sleep and several hearty Italian meals, Tom and Lena were more than ready to go to the Aurorius Villa, the center of Italy's Wizarding community. Their aged hosts showed them the way to the Villa on brooms, passing over many of the ruins of ancient Rome along the way. It was all quite a sight.

The four of them landed in the central courtyard of a large villa, which was the only part of the Villa that was above ground and where the complex got its name. The mansion-like building was much like the Leaky Cauldron in function, providing a fairly unnoticeable entrance as well as room and board for those that desired it. All of the shops were located underground and covered a large portion of the area under the oldest parts of Rome.

They entered the underground complex through wall that looked like a solid mosaic of sun, moon, and stars but it was quite intangible. There was a maze of cobblestone streets that had an arched ceiling over it that had the same enchantments on it as the ceiling of the Great Hall back at Hogwarts, allowing in the sun though it was all below ground. All the shops around them held books and artifacts from all over the world, but they did not have the chance to stop in any of them for the Dorians seemed to have only one destination in mind. With the look on Lena's face, though, Tom was sure that she would be returning to all of these shop to see if there was anything she could waste her money on in them.

Suddenly their elderly guides stopped in front of a small shop with a lovely marble statue of a sorceress standing by the doorway. In the window was an assortment of Dark Magic devices and books, but there were also a good many non-Dark Magic things mixed in with them. The sign above the shop read clearly, though in Latin: "Cavius' Lair." A smaller sign in the window read, in Italian: "All manner of devices, books, and artifacts of the Arts."

Tom thought it was a bit strange seeing a shop dedicated to the Dark Arts in the middle of a "normal" street, but he had a feeling that here the Dark Arts did not have quite as bad of a reputation as in England for some reason. He could not wait to get a look around in the shop.

Following the Dorians into the shop, they saw that it was quite clean and dust-free, unlike the shops in Knockturn Alley. Everything seemed to be neat and tidy on its shelf or in its display case. Books lined all the outer walls. Three large tables stood in the middle of the shop with glass cases on them that held an array of artifacts. Shelves filled the rest of the shop, holding countless numbers of things in glass cases or extra rows of books. At the back was a counter, which had two display cases on either end. Behind it was a shelf of jars and boxes. The shop's owner was on a short ladder looking for something along those shelves.

"Benvenuto, welcome." The middle-aged man only seemed to respond to the bell on the door tinkling, for he did not look to see who had walked in. Though he spoke in Italian, Tom had learned it when he had decided to come here so he did not need to rely on an interpreter. "How might I help you?"

"You cannot even face your customers anymore," said Mr. Dorian in English, a slight chuckle in his voice.

"Ah! Marcus!" The man turned and looked at the four of them, smiling. "I have not seen you in the longest of time."

"I have brought that young man. Tom, this is Sig. Riservas." Rex's grandfather gestured to Tom, who had been watching Lena looking at all the things in a nearby display case, though turned when his name was said. "I was hoping that if you had the time you would…"

"Of course, of course. Always glad to meet an old friend's son."

"Old friend's…did you know my mother," Tom asked, a little shocked.

"Yes, I did, and you resemble her remarkably well. But I still cannot believe that you are her son, though I've been told several times. I did not think she had any children."

"Just one, myself." Tom looked at him, still puzzled. "How did you know my mother?"

"She was a friend of a friend and I met her a few times." He went back to the search he had been doing when they had arrived. "Lovely woman, great mind, very good Dark witch, even though there were several rumors that I heard of about her not being loyal to the Dark Arts, about her being a spy."

Tom did not like this man accusing his mother of ever doing such things. It was too much like what Karl had done with Lena's father less than a week before. He had never heard any such rumors about his own mother and many of his friends had known her or her family. Yet, he seriously doubted that it could be true anyway, considering his mother's (and his own) lineage. But he still could not help but find it strange that both his mother and Korbin had now been accused of being spies in only a short span of time.

"Rumor has it that she married a Muggle, too." He looked at back the teenager, knowing he would know the answer to that one. "That's not true, is it?"

"Sadly, it is."

"And that man was your father?"

"That _man_," Tom hissed, "abandoned my mother when he found out she was a witch."

"That is often what happens in such situations." He still searched, seeming to be getting annoyed. "But I never doubted your mother's devotion to the Dark Arts. I considered her among the best Dark witches in all Europe…"

A huge smile came to Tom's face.

"…even if she _did_ fall for a _Muggle_." Finally pulling down a jar, he stepped off the ladder and looked again at the four of them again, though mainly looking at the Dorians. "So what is it that I can do for this young man?"

"Well, we were hoping you could get in touch with Lady Eirino. I think that she would be a very good teacher for him. What with her reputation and everything."

"I am afraid to say that she is unavailable for some time. She has been traveling to see old colleagues in Africa. I think she said she was currently in Mali in her last letter to me."

"When will she be back," Mrs. Dorian asked, sounding disappointed.

"Not until next summer I'm afraid."

Both the Dorians sighed heavily.

"You two give up too quickly." Sig. Riservas smiled. "Though I do not know nearly as much as Lady Eirino, I can teach him until her return."

Tom seemed more thrilled than Rex's grandparents were at hearing that. "You'd do that?"

"It would be an honor to do it. I've heard of your being taught by Rauthuell. I've heard of your skill with potions and charms. I think that you would be a marvelous student."

"Why thank you."

"It is nothing." He look to the silent woman now standing a short distance from the others, whom was staring at a row of rare books that were all in Latin. "Young lady?"

Lena suddenly looked up, seeming to suddenly realize what was going on. "Oh, sorry, books always distract me."

"Anything distracts you as long as it's for sale," Tom said, somewhat agitated over her recent spending. She gave him a _very_ unamused look.

The shop's keeper looked at her carefully. He smiled after a moment. "You're Korbin Westbrook's daughter?"

"Yes." She smiled too, blushing some. She _did_ look an awful lot like her father, after all (minus the glasses, at least). "I do believe he's mentioned you before, Sig. Riservas."

"Are you here to be taught as well?"

"Oh, no." She smiled, nodding towards Tom. "He's the only one here for that. I'm just here to shop."

The man laughed quite jovially at her sincerity. "Well, shop away, my dear. But be sure to touch nothing. There are some pretty nasty little things in here."

Lena nodded as she went back to looking over the books on the shelves, not paying any more attention to the conversation that was continuing between Tom and the shopkeeper. She knew better than to touch things in a shop of Dark Magic. She had learned her lesson early on in Borgin and Burke's when she found a lovely golden ring that was set with emeralds loose on the floor. Even though her father had told her not to touch _anything_, she just _had_ to put on. As she stood there marveling at how exquisite it was on her finger, it began to burn her hand. She squealed and tried to take it off, but it would not budge. Her father had to use a complex removal spell to get it off. Mr. Burke said that she had better have been glad she was a pureblood, else it would have rotted her hand off as soon as she stuck it on instead of giving her a burn on her finger. It had claimed the hands of dozens of Muggle and Mudblood owners in the past twenty years, though it had been around _far longer_ than that. That incident had given her her fill of touching things before she knew what it did.

For several hours, Tom spoke to Sig. Riservas about all the things that he had learned from Rauthuell. The Dorians had not stayed long after the introduction, as that they had accomplished what they had set out to do, helping their grandson's friend to learn more about the glorious Dark Arts. Lena spent the entire time just looking around the shop, only interrupting them to find out if certain books were alright to handle, as she knew some books contained poisons in the pages or ink. That evening, the shopkeeper, who insisted Tom call him Cavius, showed him up to the main villa and arrange for him to stay there as his assistant, which meant he could room there for free.

*********

To my reviewers – 

lord archimonde - :-P to your being sarcastic…I couldn't tell…and I while going to Iceland for six months would be rather nice *thinking of hot springs* I don't think I could…I don't think I could trust my husband alone for that long and he wouldn't be able to take that much holiday…*sigh*…but, that's why I want the instant learning spell…*still searching for one*…

(insert name here) – oh? None of it's true, eh? So, that means you don't think it's interesting and that it's crap, you think it'll suck if it's AU, you hate how I portray Dumbledore, you don't want to read my one-shot, you hate my ideas on magical morals, you don't like me skipping so much time, and I _do_ know you, eh?…:-P I take it on, um, faith (for lack of a better term) that you tell me the truth…^_~…if you wish to keep your identity secret, by all means, do so…and if you say you don't know me, then I'll take your word for it…I won't pry any farther than asking any question but once…and my one-shot _will_ eventually get up…^_^;; I just haven't had the time to finish editing it…sorry about that…

Aurdomiel, Ravenstar – suspicions confirmed? I've already told you and I'll tell you again, it proves nothing…and what's this about Korbin being good, and being good makes him bad? Voldemort uses everyone else, why can't someone use him for once, eh? Though I'm not saying that that's what happened, mind you…:-P And, no, Karl is not related to anyone in the canon…though he has things in common with a few of them…and _why_ do you have raging hormones?

Liv – tiptoe around Tom? *blinks* Really? I hadn't noticed that in my writing…hmm, interesting…and, yes, Tom is going to change how he treats Lena, though she's really not around that much at the moment with all her shopping and so she's not that much of a problem to him…once her spending starts decreasing, though, she'll be a bit more in his way, so to say (though there's other factors there too)…*cheers for your long review*…and thanks for still loving it…^_^

Lady Mandara Snake – oh, yes, "psycho" Lena will be saying "my lord" and "master" again (and it slowly increases in frequency of her saying it too as the chapters pass)…and she'll be around a while, yet…haven't decided exactly when I'm going to kill her off quite yet, though it won't be until the third part…she's rather useful, you see, and Tom doesn't get rid of things that are useful to him too quickly…^_~


	7. His Time in Rome

A/N : Hey, everyone! Finally, after having it done for months and months (it was written last July, I believe) I am posting my one-shot, which takes place Tom's fifth year somewhere during the fall term…the reason I didn't include it in my actual fic, though, is because it's more "fiction" than the rest of the story is…do read it and tell me what you think (I'll respond to you in this story next chapter if you do)…^_^

Chapter #7 – His Time in Rome

Over the next few days, Cavius got Tom to help him with the shop more than anything else. There were several things that needed to be cleaned (mainly the jewelry), and finding out what some of those things did were interesting enough to keep his attention as he listened to the stories the shopkeeper told him about the pieces. There was a necklace that had been owned by several ancient Roman women that had kept them barren. One green glass sphere was fabled to hold the power to steal Muggle souls, though Cavius had never tried it out (Tom eyed it with longing though never purchased it). And a large yellow topaz that was beautifully cut and _very_ dusty was completely ignored by the proprietor. He said that anything organic that touched it withered into nothingness, which explained why there was a thick piece of metal between it and the wooden base of its display case.

After the shop started to seem spotless, Cavius seemed to be pleased with all their work then started to quiz Tom on his knowledge of the history of the Dark Arts. Tom could nearly recite all the major Dark witches and wizards from the Mediterranean world. He could explain the general history of the Dark Arts at length. Though his new teacher was very impressed, Tom did not think it was _that_ amazing. He had spent three years studying all of that and had written extensive essays about it on both his OWLs and NEWTs. But the next thing Cavius quizzed him on was something that Tom had only limited knowledge about.

Devices of Dark magic was something that Sig. Riservas seemed to know a large deal about, but he _was_ the owner of a shop that sold and bought such things, so he _had_ to know all about them. Tom learned how to differentiate between the apparatuses just by their look or the sounds they made. He learned how to make devices to do an array of things. Tom loved studying all these things, though in the beginning his knowledge and handling of the devices was _far_ from perfect and he was quite glad that his teacher knew all the counterspells for the devices he was learning about.

Above all other things, though, Cavius was a potion master – or, more precisely, a _poisons_ master. Even though Tom was not as good at this as Lena was, he rather liked what he was making, knowing that some of these might one day come in handy. A few times Lena had come into Cavius' workshop and tried her hand at some of the more complex potions and poisons that she found in his books and she always made them perfectly. Sig. Riservas, though, said he would expect nothing less from the daughter of Korbin Westbrook, who he knew to be a great potion master and he was sure that his daughter would have learned a thing or two from him. And it was his teacher's high praise of Korbin more than anything else that made Tom stop worrying so much about Karl's accusations before they left Denmark.

There was also the "necessity" for Tom to learn Greek. Melantha's native tongue was Greek and it was her primary language, though she did also know Arabic, Russian, and several native African languages. She did not know either any of the five languages Tom and Lena knew, but Sig. Riservas taught them a spell that would aid them in learning any language. With the use of this spell, Tom and Lena learned to read and speak Greek fluently in a matter of three months.

Yet no matter how busy he was, he always made time to respond to his friends when they wrote him letters. He had thanked Rex especially for arranging the meeting with his grandparents and always let him know what was going on in Rome. Crinis wrote as often as he could, which was at least once every two weeks. His other friends were often too busy with work to say too much when they did write, but when Tom did get letters from them they were happily received. Tom even still got a few letters from Korbin, though he kept his responses short. Lena was saying plenty to her father, as they sent letters at least once every few days to each other.

Between keeping the shop clean and tidy and learning all the things that Cavius had to teach, the months before Tom real teacher returned from her journeys in Africa dwindled away. He did not at all regret staying with Cavius, though he had not been a _great_ teacher he had been quite good nonetheless. He had also gotten to meet an array of Dark witches and wizards that came to the shop. Another good thing about his being halfway in charge of that shop kept Lena from spending her money in it, for he refused to sell her anything. 

It was mid-July when Sig. Riservas received a letter from Lady Eirino, letting him know that she had returned from her visit to Africa and that she was ready for Tom to come see her. She had, of course, known for some time about the young man's desire to learn about the Dark Arts and she had heard many wonderful things from her Italian friend, so she was sure that he would be a good student for her to teach. She was _very_ interested in meeting this promising young man.

"Tom," Cavius said, walking into the back one evening after closing up the shop, "I just got finished reading and responding to a letter from Melantha."

The young man was polishing a silver ring, which had allegedly killed some Italian aristocrat centuries before, as well as other more recent Muggles. The small band had just been traded in that afternoon for a book. Tom looked up at his teacher, wondering what she had said. "Does she have a date when she will be returning to her home?"

"Actually, she's already there."

There was a slightly surprised look on Tom's face. "But just last week…"

"She had to return home to deal with a little something."

Tom nodded, understanding how such things could happen. "How do I find her home?"

"What you'll need to do is fly due east of here across the Adriatic. She lives in the mountains of Albania in a large manor house. Most people that fly near her home cannot miss it. It like an oasis in the dense forest."

The mountains of Albania? Tom smiled, looking at Lena who was reading a potions book she had just bought that day, making a list of the ingredients she did not have already. Being in the middle of nowhere in Albania _would_ keep her from spending her money. This could be a very good thing. He turned back to his teacher. "So when is she expecting me?"

"Within the next few days. She's already prepared a place for you and Lena."

On hearing her name, Lena looked up, having not been paying a _bit_ of attention to their conversation before that. "Yes?"

"Get your things, ready, Lena, we'll be leaving tomorrow."

"Why?!"

"We're going to Albania."

The young woman was suddenly puzzled. What could there possibly be in Albania? "Why?"

"Melantha is back at her home. She is expecting us soon."

"But…"

"Do not question me…just do it."

"Alright." She stood with a sigh, closing her book, marking the spot she had been reading at with her list of ingredients she still needed. "I'll go pack now."

As she left, he smiled after her. He knew exactly why she did not like the thought of going to Albania, there was no major shopping areas there for wizards. And she had become rather lazy when it came to her going out to shop and she refused to travel very far to go shopping anymore. And with her being hundreds of miles from any good shops, she would _hopefully_ be forced out of her shopping addiction.

*********

To reviewers – 

Lady Mandara Snake – master's concubine? No, sorry, Lena still fills that position….but would you really _want_ to be that? I mean, that's not really safe, you know…

Aurdomiel, Ravenstar – yes yes, that's what I thought you meant, that it's bad for Tom if Korbin's a spy…and no one would be happy if they found out they had been being used without their permission…

Liv – hmm…you make a good point, but, no, I can assure you that she is just shopping (at least as far as I know, and I know a good deal about my own OC, you know…^_~)…well, Tom _will_ be learning from books a lot too, but, well, if he does nothing but be reclusive and study from books, how will he fulfill that "consorted with the very worst of our kind" part Dumbledore talked about? There are just some things about being a Dark wizard that you can't learn from books…but, I agree with you, that does make it seem like anyone could be a Dark wizard…

(insert name here) – made my point? ^_^ I'm glad…though I hope you weren't lying about that…:-P Eep! My one-shot…nearly forgot about that…I _knew_ there was something I need to make an author note about in this chapter…*goes to top and adds it*…so it should be up sometime today…I tried my hardest on it, so I do hope you like it…

lord archimonde – well, snow's good too…even if it's enough to bury a house…^_^ The snow wouldn't go away so quickly then…*depressed sigh* All my snow got rained away last weekend…that's really sad, you know…I like snow…and we had had snow on the ground for nearly a full _month_ it had been so cold…


	8. What Lies in Albania…

A/N : Eh, this chapter's a bit cheesy in my opinion, though it's key to his "traveling far and wide" that Dumbledore mentioned in book two…and, just so you know, I've never considered Melantha absolutely "sane", she is a bit – er – odd…^_~

*********

Chapter #8 – What Lies in Albania…

The trip to Albania was much shorter than the one they had taken from Denmark to Italy. In only a few short hours they arrived at the manor Cavius had given them great description of right before they left. He had been right, too. It did seem like an oasis in the middle of the dense green forest around it. He was sure, though, that it had to have dozens of Muggle repelling charms on it, as that it would _certainly_ be noticeable by any passing Muggles, especially if they were in airplanes. As soon as he landed, he felt like he had entered the safest place in all the world.

When Tom met his new teacher, he was a little surprised by her. Melantha was a deeply tanned, slightly plump woman with stern brown eyes. Her face tended to remind Tom of a cat's face, as that her features were rather pointed so that she looked to have a muzzle, and her slightly squashed nose did not help the image much either. Her long black hair was always worn in a plait that she wore around her head like a circlet. She only ever wore fine robes of varying shades of purple, no matter what she was doing.

His new teacher only gave him the rest of the day after he arrived to get himself settled in his new surroundings before plunging into lessons. She even made Lena work, making the young witch go into the forest and collect wild herbs and tend to her gardens. Lena had told Melantha their first evening there that her father was a potion master and she was on her way to becoming one as well. Neither of the new arrivals complained about what they were doing, though, for they both loved the chores.

What Tom was learning from Melantha was exactly what he had set out to learn. It was the complete opposite of Defense against the Dark Arts. Instead of learning and practicing the counters for curses, he was learning and practicing the curses as well as counters for them, like he heard was the way they did things at Durmstrang when it came to the Dark Arts. He perfected his Cruciatus and Imperius curses while he was under her tutelage. But there were other spells and curses that he could never have thought of that she taught to him.

Melantha also instructed him the finer points of dueling. She said that this way he would not only be able to understand the way things worked in a real situation, but it was also good practice, for he was sure to end up in a duel sooner or later. Tom was fairly decent at it in the beginning, as was Lena, for Melantha insisted that she learn this as well. Within a few months of starting this training, both of them had improved greatly, though Tom was _far_ better at it than Lena.

The only thing that Tom disliked about Melantha was that she had told Lena that it was simple to Apparate to the Nisi apo Hekate, the all-Wizarding island near Thira that was the location of the Grecian shopping complex, or back to the Aurorius Villa. Lena was gone sometimes all day, coming back with bags of items, but Melantha made sure she did not go shopping too often as that Lena _did_ have chores to do around the manor.

Tom's headaches came back again full force while he was studying with Melantha. He had succeeded, somehow, at not getting any severe ones when he had been in Rome, except when he had been brewing some particular poisons, but Cavius had said the fumes from those often gave headaches. Melantha, though, absolutely refused to accept any excuses for his taking a break from studying, even his headaches. She whipped up a potion that even made Lena gawk in envy. The potion, though tasting like burnt beef, completely got rid of his headaches, even at their worst. Tom had a feeling, though, it was too good of a thing to last forever.

Once the Dark witch had decided that they had learned dueling well enough, she dropped those teaching sessions with them. While Lena took the time to look into making some ancient Greek potions she had gotten a book on, Tom started going through books in Melantha's library looking for information on legilimency and occlumency. Ever since he had first heard of it in Denmark from Soren's group, he had wanted to learn more about those obscure branches of magic. It luckily did not take him long to find the books he needed and he began his study on the subject, though Melantha's library had _nearly_ as many volumes as the Hogwarts' library. 

When Melantha discovered his private search, though, she pulled him out of the library and into the room she had set up for his training, giving him the practice she knew he needed in such a field of study. Though Tom appreciated this very much, the fact that her use of legilimency on him at first allowed her to delve into his mind and see things that he had let few others know about rather unnerved him. She never said anything when she saw these things, though she did sometimes giving him curious looks. But after a while, she began to call him Voldemort, for she had seen how much he hated his birth name and so she would not disrespect her student by calling him Tom.

The added distance between himself and his friends, not to mention his busy schedule with his teacher, seemed to cut down on the amount of correspondence he received and sent – but most of his friends were settling down and having families and did have as much time either. His letters from Nathan and some of his other friends had stopped completely. Crinis and Rex were still sending a letter a month typically. Darcy had only been writing his periodically, as that he had recently gotten married. Tom was actually thankful, though, that the letters from Mr. Westbrook had finally ended. However, Lena was still writing to her father weekly about things. He had absolutely no idea what she could have so much to tell her father, though.

The summer months drifted away rather slowly it seemed, with Tom being worked into exhaustion nearly every day. But between his normal lessons, the examinations Melantha gave him every other day about his learning, the duels she was having with him, and the legilimency and occlumency lessons, it was no wonder he was being worn out. It was all well-worth it, though. The best thing about it was how complete he was beginning to feel. He knew he was well on his way to fulfilling is dream, his plan.

Autumn passed in a flurry of visitors. It did not seem like a day passed without some associate of Melantha's dropping by. Words in languages Tom and Lena did not understand drifted through the house. But even with all these guests, Melantha did not let up with her teaching Tom at a constant pace, often showing off her student and his abilities to her guests, which rather embarrassed him.

Soon autumn too was gone and a mild winter settled over them. Melantha quickly switched what she was teaching Tom to potions, though she was nowhere near finished with teaching him curses. She simply changed the lessons because she wanted to break the slight monotony that was occurring. They were doing potions like those he had seen in one of the books in the Restricted Section of the library at Hogwarts, _Moste Potente Potions_. Lena always joined in on his lessons, at least the ones in which Melantha was telling him about a potion she had not already concocted herself.

On the day after Yuletide, when Tom was headed out to go get rainwater for the potion he was about to start, he found all the water barrels smelled as though they had something rotting in them. Next thing he knew, the chickens Melantha kept were surrounding him, each with a tiny, deformed, nude elf on its back, shouting curses at him and their multicolored, elaborately decorated headgear catching the sunlight. His teacher suddenly burst from the house, a large sachet in one hand and a shoe in the other.

"Don't make me do it," she yelled, brandishing the shoe at them.

All the elves dismounted the chickens they were on and hurried off, but did not disappear from sight. Melantha poured some dried flower petals into the water barrels around her house, muttering swear words in _several_ languages. Once she had finished, she explained that the elves, Callicantzaroi, which were native to the area, liked to bother her _every_ winter. The only way to get rid of them was to burn a shoe and toss hyssop in the water and chicken coup. She yelled at the lingering elves she saw as she returned into the house, threatening them with the shoe again, and they finally disappeared.

Tom was too stunned by it all to say anything, or to even move. It took him nearly a full ten minutes to finally remember why he was even outside. By the time he had returned to the house with his water, Melantha had returned to the yard, shoe in hand, to get rid of the little elves when they started running back across the yard to cause some chaos. She lit the shoe aflame with her wand and tossed it at the group. They scattered and did not return the remainder of the winter.

The rest of the winter passed with little other incident. Some of Melantha's Greek colleagues would come and stay a few days. To Tom many of them seemed to be a lot "darker" than Melantha with the way they looked, dressed, and carried themselves. But he noticed they all respected his teacher greatly. He knew that appearances did not matter, though, for there were many wizards that looked like very respectable citizens that were not that way at all.

As the spring approached, Tom looked back over the past months and could not believe how much he had learned in so little time. He had gained a much wider view of the Dark Arts in the previous six years since he had left Hogwarts, but it did not seem like so much time had passed. He could brew just about any potion Lena could, but his skill at it was still not anywhere near hers. He was still better in a duel than Lena, though. He had learned many good curses that he knew would one day come in handy. He knew more about Dark devices than he had ever thought there could be. He had even become decent at legilimency and occlumency, though Melantha had told him that it would take years to become fully skilled at those arts.

Tom had slowly started to become more interested in magics from other countries, ones that had developed separately from those of the Mediterranean region (Hermetic magic). Melantha obliged his desire to learn these magics, but did so with a little reluctance for some reason. Tom did not know why she was acting with hesitance when she was teaching him these things and it bothered him some. It was as though she did not think he was capable of learning spells from other nations, other systems of magic. He tried his best at all the spells she taught him, though, and hoped that he would show her that he could do these as well as any other spell from Hermetic magic.

But, when the end of March was approaching, Melantha stopped in the middle of a lesson and left him alone in the library looking bewildered. She had locked herself in her room and would not come out when Tom, Lena, or any of the house elves asked her to. She reappeared, though, at dinner. The look on her face told Tom immediately that there was something wrong.

"Melan…"

"No, let me speak first." She smiled at him with the caring smile she often showed him. "You are a wonderful student, so do _not_ doubt that. I do not think that you are incapable of _anything_. But…I think it would be best if you would leave my home and seek study elsewhere for now."

"Why?"

"It is hard to explain." She looked a bit uncomfortable, as she had been doing for about a month, since they had started his most recent studies. "You just need to learn how magic _really_ works. It is not as you think it is, I'm sure. Some of the questions you've asked me lately about things, they all point to it. And I am afraid that this is just something that I want you to find out for yourself and not have me teach you. It will be more fulfilling, more exciting for you to learn it this way."

"What do you…"

"You will learn soon enough, Voldemort." Her smile returned, broader than before. "And when you become the great Dark Lord I know you will be in the future, I will be happy in knowing that it was _I_ that set you on the path to discover the greatest knowledge about magic there is. A truth that most wizards do not realize exists because they have too narrow of a mindset and worldview. Find that truth and make me proud."

And with that, Melantha turned and left him. Tom looked to Lena, but she was just as puzzled about what the Dark witch had said and meant. They decided with only a glance to each other to go ahead and pack up their things after dinner and leave the next day, but Tom was agreeing to this all reluctantly. He had enjoyed being Melantha's student for the past eight months. She was a _great_ teacher. But he would do as she had requested of him and leave her home…but where he could go to discover this "truth" confounded him.

*********

To my reviewers – 

Lady Mandara Snake – by the time I get rid of Lena it'll be nearly the end of this whole story…you can have master in your little world, but while your visiting mine, Lena and Voldemort are together…and the closeness that develops between them would be hard to replace…though I hope your not getting Voldemort doesn't make you hate me or the story…

(insert name here) – yes, you will live it down, eventually…though I'll try not to bring it up again…Dumbledore's sole purpose isn't Grindelwald, it's just what he wants the most, to be face to face with him (to duel him, etc.)…and you may have a point with your saying "Some trait that one can only have by *being* the Dark Lord?"…keep that in mind till later in the actual story…and of course Tom would reflect on what's going on in his life after that, it just makes him more human (and he is still human at that point, remember?)…and when you say "preaches to Harry about the power of one's choices to effect the future", why can't Dumbledore still believe that then? He's made a choice about letting Tom do as he wishes, giving him freewill…Dumbledore's just choosing to use Tom and whatever he chooses to do…did that make sense? It was the best I could describe it at the moment, so sorry if I confused you…^_^;; Yes, Tom is becoming more controlling of Lena, though not too much yet…and, yes, it is because of both the things you said, his study of the Dark Arts and his lack of "discipline", though he's not really seeking out anyone that would make him "act nice", as it were…

Liv – yes, more forceful with Lena…though she's not really around enough to annoy him (though her shopping annoys him enough)…and you had the right idea about Albania…I did think that there would be _some_ reason he chose Albania to run off to after the "Potter Incident" (and there's going to be a very good reason he didn't run to Lena for help)…Dark devices are fun…^_^

lord archimonde – I LOVE SNOW!!! Too bad it's nearly the end of winter…*sigh* And Melantha wasn't his *real* teacher, just one of his most important and most certainly his favorite one…Tom won't be getting rid of Lena, sorry…don't really mean for her to be annoying or do I? Hmm… Anyway, she plays a significant role later in the story…there's a reason I have her around other than Tom's lust interest (can't say "love interest" because he doesn't love her)…

RivanKnight – yes, more teachers…his third one is come and gone, there are three more to go…^_^ Though I'm nowhere near the middle of his travels yet…yes, Lena is addicted, but, no, nothing stands in the way of her shopping (though making potions are slowly starting to look more and more appealing to her than shopping)…*munches brownie*…

RiddleLight – short chapter? This one better? And don't say "sub" around me, I hear about them enough as is…*sigh* *wipes of "ducky" charms* Gee, thanks…


	9. The Nychta Paidia

FYI – the title of this chapter is Greek (of course) for "Night Children"…and, also, if we all knew Greek and stuff, the dialogue in this chapter (the next two and the previous one, also, by the way) would be written in that language, as that's the language they're _supposed_ to be speaking…^_~

And a quick question to all my readers, when did Voldemort get Nagini and explain your answer some, don't just say something like "during his reign of terror" or whatever…I want to see what all of you think…I'm trying to decide on some things regarding her and I want to see everyone's opinion on this…

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Chapter #9 – The Nychta Paidia 

Saying his good-byes to Melantha had been quite hard on him, harder than the good-bye's to his colleagues in Denmark. He knew that she still had plenty she could teach him, so was her reason why she wanted him to leave the real one? _Would_ he do better traveling abroad? Would he learn what she wanted him to? And what had she really meant by "how magic really works"?

The Dark witch had informed him that she had written to friends of hers on Nisi apo Hekate the day before when she had been locked away in her room and she knew they would receive them warmly. She suggested, though, that he leave and travel the world more as soon as the oppurtunity presented itself, as she knew it surely would. Tom did as she suggested and went to the Greek islands, though quite reluctantly, as he knew Lena was going to spend even more time shopping than ever before, as she would be only a short "pop" away from the shops there, as she had been in Rome.

It was a six-hour flight to the island just southwest of Thira. The island was large enough to have made it onto normal maps if it had not been unplottable, as well as have Muggle-repelling charms on it. As they flew over the main city, which was on the coast, Tom marveled at the mass of flat-roofed, white-washed houses below, a theatre on the edge of town. The streets were all narrow, but green courtyards and squares were scattered throughout the jumble of houses. It was Lena that directed him to the place to land, as that she had been there on numerous occasions while they were in Albania.

The square they touched down in had an olive tree growing at its center. None of the passersby paid them any attention, seeing as how it was a common occurrence for brooms to land all over the island. The surrounding building were all two stories and each had a wooden balcony that overlooked the plaza. There were a few children on brooms near the tree. Lena smiled at them. She was about to the point in her life when her body was telling her it was time to be having children but she knew she would never have children – not with her being with Tom, at least. She had made sure every month that she would not get pregnant, though she often regretted it. She looked at Tom and sighed to herself.

The house they were looking for was one of the few that was painted ochre in the area, so it had been easy enough to find. They knocked on the door and a middle-aged woman answered the door. She was rather short (maybe a little less than five foot) and a bit chubby, but pretty nonetheless. She was wearing lavender and light blue robes. Her dark blonde hair was up in a bun and she had a pair of round glasses setting on her nose. She was looking at them with a look of curiosity.

"We are here to see Mr. Eklekti," Tom asked in his near perfect Greek.

The witch looked at them puzzled for a moment longer then suddenly realized who they had to be. She smiled and opened the door wider for them to enter. "Yes, please, do come in, young Tom. We _just_ received Melantha's letter. We didn't think you would be here as immediately as she seemed to be saying."

With a nod, Tom and Lena entered the house. It was rather cozy and warm. There was a large red hand-woven carpet on the floor that matched the color of the lounges that had golden yellow pillows on them. The walls were whitewashed, unlike the outside, but there were geometric designs in ochre paint making a boarder along the top of the wall. There were red flowers in mosaic vases set around on tables and on the windowsills. The three windows that were in the room were all open letting in a nice breeze, blowing the white lace curtains gently.

"Aristid, they have arrived already."

A man hardly taller than the witch that had greeted them appeared through an archway and smiled at them. He too had dark blonde hair, but his was cut short. He had a nicely trimmed beard and mustache. He was in green and goldenrod robes. He stood just inside the room and nodded to Tom and Lena.

"It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Aristid," he gestured to the witch that had let them in, "and this is my wife Calida. Melantha talked very highly of you in her letter. She doesn't normally take any pupils so you must be an exceptional young wizard."

Tom smiled broadly, rather flattered. "I don't know about _exceptional_, but I do feel lucky to have had her as a teacher."

Aristid chuckled. "She said nothing about you being modest, though."

Tom only continued to smile.

"And this young woman must be your mistress." The wizard bowed to Lena. "You are very lovely, Miss Westbrook."

Lena blushed politely. "Thank you."

"And you've arrived on the most opportune of days. The Nychta Paidia is meeting tonight."

"The Nychta Paidia," he asked, slightly puzzled.

There was a pause as Aristid looked at Tom, slightly shocked. "She didn't tell you of the Paidia? Hmm…well, the Nychta Paidia is the largest group of Dark witches and wizards in Greece, several of them live on the Nisi as this is headquarters, and they are having a gathering tonight. I think that you would rather like the group, if you wish to go, that is."

"I would love to go," Tom said with an eager smile.

***

After a wonderful dinner of roasted lamb, stuffed grape leaves, and a salad with tons of fresh olives on it, the four of them left the house and headed to friend's home. They greeted him and Tom was introduced to Charon and Suadela Synetus, whom also had a guest staying with them – a man from China named Pei Shen. The Chinese wizard was as short as Tom's hosts. He had long black hair that he wore back in a braid that reached his waist. He wore red robes with Chinese characters scattered over the material. Though he was easy to spot and clearly did not fit in with the Mediterranean peoples around him, he was apparently not worried about it, and he spoke very good Greek.

It surprised Tom that they were walking to their destination instead of flying or Apparating, but he did not ask why they were walking. There was surely a good reason for it. But he did not mind the walk, for there was plenty to see around them. The narrow alleyways went off into all directions, winding down between houses or leading into gardens or towards squares. The evening was cool and the smell of the ocean (which was less than a mile away) was strong as the breeze passed over the land.

After only a few minutes of walking, they came to a large three-story house. There was a wall around the building and they entered through the open gateway into the courtyard. There were four olive trees in the courtyard with grapevines on circular wires under them. It was quite an impressive sight after seeing houses that were much plainer all the way there.

An elderly wizard was standing on the porch, watching them enter. He smiled at them over his glass of wine. "Welcome, friends. I see we have new guests now."

"Myles," Aristid nodded to the man.

"Please, please, do introduce me."

And so Tom's host presented Tom and Lena to Myles, and the elderly wizard was introduced to them as the head of the Nychta Paidia. This surprised them slightly. Of course, Aristid telling him that Tom had been Melantha's apprentice seemed to have been more of a shock to Myles. After a moment, he told them to go on down so the group entered the house.

It was much like the Eklekti's home but the color scheme was blue and green instead of red and golden. They were led to a door that led to a staircase that went downward. The seven of them went down the narrow stairs and entered a narrow corridor. There were rooms around them that held an array of bottles but they were heading for the room at the far end of the corridor. There was a good bit of noise coming from the room they were headed to – a mingle of laughter and conversation that made Tom feel very excited.

The cellar was huge. The walls were draped with black silk and velvet. Candles with blue flames were burning from mounts on the walls. A large iron cauldron stood at the center of the room, empty. Hanging from the ceiling and along shelves on the walls were an array of Dark devices (some of which Tom clearly recognized as used in torturing). There was also a small shelf where there were books, which were most likely all on the Dark Arts (and most likely all in Greek, Latin, and Egyptian).

It came as no surprise to Tom that he heard Lena whisper excitedly "ooh, books" then rush over to look at the volumes. Calida followed her with a smile. Tom was more interested in meeting all these Dark wizards and witches than in a dusty-looking collection of books. Aristid knew what was on the young wizard's mind and took him over to the first group to introduce him.

There were about a dozen other people there, and Tom was introduced to all of them. He saw that Lena had been pulled away from the books and was being introduced as well. While he was talking to Myles' wife, Lethe, another witch entered the room with the head of the Nychta Paidia.

Tom was watching the witch with his mouth open slightly. She was the epitome of his idea of what a Dark witch should be, even more than Melantha had been. She was middle-aged but still retained quite a bit of her youth. Her hair was dark and straight and fell loose to her thighs. Her eyes were dark green and heavily lidded. She seemed to look down her nose at the group gathered in the room. She was wearing elegant black robes that were trimmed with velvet and embroidered with gold and silver threads in abstract patterns. But what made the picture perfection to Tom was the snake that hung around her neck. It was gray with a brown streak down its back with splotches of black touching the streak. And on top of that, she was talking to the serpent in _Parseltongue_.

"Stop gapping at her, Tom." Lena sounded a bit irritated. When she had come back to his side, he did not know. "She's not _that_ amazing."

If he had been in any mood to argue with her, he would have begged to differ, but he was paying Lena little attention. Aristid noticed his eyes falling on the new arrival and remembered that Melantha had told him that Tom was a Parselmouth. Perhaps it would be a good idea to introduce the two of them, as that she was the only other Parselmouth in their group, though she was often haughty with new people.

"Ophelia, come here," Tom's host beckoned to the witch.

With simply a glance of acknowledgment, the woman glided over to them. She was eyeing his companions. "Yes, Aristid?"

"I would like to introduce Mr. Tom Riddle. He was Melantha's pupil for about a year and has now come to stay here a while."

The witch only looked at him with an arrogant expression.

__

"It is a pleasure, my lady, to meet another Parselmouth."

The room fell silent and Tom smirked. Ophelia had gone wide-eyed and her serpent was flicking his tongue out at Tom curiously. It was a nice feeling to have everyone's eyes on him.

__

"I like him," the snake said quietly.

__

"You would, Ladon," she said with an annoyed hiss.

Tom was still smirking. _"It would be an honor to be able to speak with you, Lady Ophelia. I have never before had the pleasure of speaking with another so gifted as we."_

"Hmm," she studied him for a moment then decided she liked him, "yes, I think it might be interesting to hear your stories. _All_ Parselmouths have them."

After that, the night seemed to go by quite quickly. Most of the members of the Nychta Paidia were discussing some order of business, which was their reason for the gathering, but others were keeping the two new people company. Lena contented herself with talking with Eunomia and her husband Hersperos (who ran an apothecary together) about substituting herbs in certain potions, which Lena was interested in since she was just learning about some native Greek plants. Tom spoke to Ophelia for a long time about what he had done at school, which she found _very_ interesting. He also talked to Pei Shen, wandering what he might learn of that wizard's own travels, and to Myles, for he was interested in knowing more about them and the group.

Tom felt like he had found himself a new home almost immediately. All of the members of the Nychta Paidia made him feel safe. But he had a nagging feeling, especially as he made his way back to the Eklekti's home, that this was _not_ the place he would find out what it was that Melantha had sent him away to learn. After all, this was the place that she had sent him to as a stepping stone to wherever else he was to travel.

*********

To my reviewers – 

lord archimonde – I'm sorry that ff.net was acting up with you…if you have anything specific you needed/wanted to say about the last chapter you _can_ tell me when you review this one…^_^ And I do hope you enjoyed the last chapter…

(insert name here) – hmm…Albus could have tried for seven years to save Tom, eh? Well, you know what? Though he apparently knew (or rightfully suspected) Dumbledore _never_ seemed to have done anything about it…I mean, I'm sure that it would have been something that he would have regretted, his failed attempts to redeem the future Dark Lord, you know? I think that would have been something that he would have told Harry…and I think that diary Tom would have been a bit more bitter about something like that, too…right? It seems that Dumbledore didn't do anything to try to save Tom from the path he was going down…and if he believed then about one's decisions showing who you really are, then what exactly does that say about him? And, no, I don't think you think/obsess too much over things like that – I have my own share of things I think over too much…and honestly, it depends on your views of time and the flow of history as to if there would _have_ to be a Dark Lord during that time…I've thought about it a lot when I was thinking of my "what if" for Tom (a what-if-his-mum-had-lived-and-he-turned-out-good story)…and, honestly, I don't know the answer myself, though we would all like to think that if he had turned good, everything would have been good. I am planning on having Melantha pop back up later on, once Tom makes his return to Europe, though it'll most likely be only a brief stop over before heading back to other places. And the "Magic's Greatest Knowledge" isn't all that spectacular or anything, Melantha could have very well told him right off the bat, but she really just wanted him to get out and travel more, to learn more than she could offer him (and he does learn plenty)…I hope, though, that when chapter 12 rolls around (that's the chapter it's in) you'll at least think it interesting, if not a bit cheesy…^_^;; Geez, I said a lot to you, didn't I? Think that's my longest response ever…

Lady Mandara Snake – glad you still love it even though I'm not getting rid of Lena (though I think that Liv might be about to pop up and kill off Lena for both herself and you…*sigh*…poor Lena). And you may write your own stories, sure, just don't steal any of my ideas without asking me first…but then it isn't stealing, is it…*shrugs*…and you know I update nearly weekly, so don't worry…^_~

Liv – I don't think the elves could have carried Lena off, they're small enough to rid on chickens (think brownies from the movie _Willow_)…yes, the burning shoe is interesting and amusing, and I got that fact straight out of a "faerie folk" book…*giggles*…thought it'd be very amusing and I envisioned Melantha doing it as soon as I found it too…^_^…and, yes, Lena will know Severus, but that's all I'm saying for now…


	10. Mortality

A/N : ^_^;; Okay, yeah…*nervous laugh*…I really didn't mean to make you all think that Ophelia was going to be a main character in the rest of the story or even Tom's teacher (at the moment, he's without a teacher – and will be for some time to come as well). I was mainly focusing on the shock that befell both Tom and the rest of the Paidia in regards to discovering another Parselmouth. They _are_ extremely rare, after all. It's kind of like what they hinted at in _Chamber of Secrets_ – 90% of the time being a Parselmouth means you're a Dark wizard – so it looked good for Tom to do that. Right? Oh, and just as a side note for this…there was another very minor plot I was thinking of adding dealing with Parselmouths while Tom was in Greece, but it was too cheesy and I didn't know how to do it right, so I dropped it.

A/N 2 : To make sure you're not too lost in the timeline, I though I'd mention ages and dates again…Tom and Lena are 26 (though Lena's only got about two months till her birthday, so she'll soon be 27)…the date is currently January, 1954…

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Chapter #10 – Mortality

When he looked back on the time he had spent in Greece many years later, it had only seemed like the briefest of stays, but he had spent nearly three years there before the events unfurled that would make him leave Europe finally. He had grown rather fond of the little Greek island he stayed on, as did Lena, though she mainly loved it for all the shopping (and her collection of books in various languages was growing ever larger – along with all the other _little_ things).

Letters between Tom and his friends had dwindled more in frequency. He was usually only receiving and sending only _one_ letter a month by the end of his time in Greece, but he was usually quite busy, nearly as busy as he had been with Melantha. Most of his time was spent pouring over books looking for information that would help him achieve what Melantha had told him he needed to learn. He also spent a great deal of time learning new charm, transfigurations, and potions. Lena's collection of books helped him out greatly in at least the latter case. It was during this time that he really first discovered and became interested in the magic involved with possessing another living being, though he never started studying it, for he saw no use in it.

It was also during those three years that there were several more rumors that appeared about Korbin Westbrook and the capture of Rauthuell Geist. Lena had even received a rather distressed letter from Cavius asking her to say it was not true. It had come down to her having to write her father about it to get his side of the rumors to make sure they were rightfully squashed this time. As soon as she had told him about it, though, Tom knew immediately what answer her father would give. _Of course_ he would tell her, and any other Dark witch or wizard, that he was _not_ a spy or a traitor. Tom, though, was still thinking otherwise. He might not have any real proof yet or the desire to say anything about it to Lena (for he still remembered what she had done to Karl), but he suspected Korbin nonetheless.

The number of letters his mistress was still sending to her father was astounding. His feelings of Korbin being a spy was making him wonder more about Lena. And even though Tom had not told her, Lena still knew what was on his mind by the way he looked at her when he caught her reading a letter from her father. She swore to him that if he so desired she would take Veritaserum or let him peer into her mind with legilimency, as she knew he had become _quite_ proficient with it, so he would _know_ she spoke the truth. Taking her up on her offer, he did start using his abilities at legilimency on her and was calmed in the knowledge that she was not lying to him.

Ophelia often found time to come speak to Tom, and they always spoke in Parseltongue, which rather annoyed Lena whenever she was around them because it was _one_ language she could never learn to speak herself (though she was sure that there was _some way_ she could learn to understand it at least). Ophelia always tried to get him to get a snake of his own, but for some reason he never did and said he was not interested in getting one at that time. Lena had a feeling that he somewhat thought of Lilith as his one and only serpent. The Parselmouth witch was rather disappointed he did not want to get one, but did not question him too much over it. She knew that sometimes it took a while to find the right snake to be a companion – it had taken her five years of really searching to find her Ladon – so she could respect his not having one yet.

Tom and Pei Shen became quite good friends, though the amount of time their hosts spent together was certainly one of the reasons for that. Shen did not talk much about why he had come to Greece from his homeland, but did talk a lot about the differences in the magic in the two regions. They had, after all, developed at different times with no contact at all in the beginning. Tom was interested in hearing about the differences, and Shen loved explaining. Shen also loved hearing about all the things that Tom had learned and done over the years.

Just a little more than two years after he had arrived there, Tom first heard of a plan the Nychta Paidia were developing that surprised Tom somewhat. They were planning on taking over the Greek Ministry of Magic. Never before had Tom heard of such a plan. Well, Grindelwald had had a plan similar to it, but he was taking a completely different approach. The Nychta Paidia was not trying to take over the whole of Europe, not even all of Greece. All they wanted was to take over the Wizarding communities of the Balkans. They even had Melantha helping them with some of the detail.

When Tom asked why they were doing something like this, when they had been saying that the success rate was less than half, Myles said with a playful smile: "it keeps them on their toes." Keeps them on their toes _indeed_. As soon as the plans were in their final stages and the date for the attempted takeover only weeks away, there came some rather unwelcome news at a planning session at which Tom was actually attending (he had not been invited to many of them).

"How did they find out?!" Myles was sitting at the head of the table, staring in disbelief at Tityus, one of the Nychta Paidia's insiders at the Ministry. "And are they sending Aurors?"

"Aurors" was a general term used in much of Europe for such wizards. Since it was a Latin based word and since most of the European languages were influenced by Latin, it made sense they shared terms such as this. Greece had adopted it, for whatever reason, though they had little influence from Latin.

"I have no idea how they found out. I just heard that the Aurors had said they were moving against us. That's all I know other than the fact that the plans had been spread all over the Ministry by the time I could steal away. But, yes, the Aurors are going to come. When, though, I have no idea."

Tom looked around the table. Some of those present looked shocked, while others looked as though they had expected it, and he saw two wizards smiling mischievously while taking out their wands to caress, ready for the fight if it came. Lena was not there for this meeting, as that she was upstairs getting out some of her motherly instincts with Myles' young grandchildren. Tom turned back to Myles as he began discussing what to do, for the Aurors were said to be ready to strike at any time, and they had found out that the headquarters for them was Myles' home.

Before any final plans were made about what to do, Lena and Myles' daughter-in-law, Akantha, screamed from upstairs. In a flurry of robes, the seven people that were in the cellar rushed towards the door. They did not want to get caught downstairs with only one way out if they ended up needing to run. They had only just topped the stairs when they were surrounded by five Aurors. But they were surely not the only ones that were in the house because there was a great deal of commotion elsewhere. All the Aurors had their wands trained on the wizards that had just emerged from the cellar.

"Myles," one of the Aurors said, nodding politely to the leader of the Nychta Paidia.

"Good to see you again, Staffen." Myles nodded to him as well. "If you would just let us by, we won't bother…"

"Don't you _dare_ try it. You won't weasel your way out this time," the only witch in the group snapped at Myles.

With a slightly annoyed sigh, the head of the Nychta Paidia nodded. "Very well, then."

Just as if they had practiced it a hundred times, all seven of the wizards that had been downstairs drew their wands. Immediately the spells started flying. Three more Aurors came into the hallway from one of the rooms just after the fighting had started and added their help, making the odds more even. Most of the spells were ones Tom had only learned in the past few years, for the Greek school of wizardry did not teach many Latin derived spells, and certainly they did not teach English and French derived ones that he knew. Tom, then, was at an advantage when it came to that, for they would not know what he was throwing at them.

Tom, squared off with one of the Aurors that had already been in the hallway to begin with, paying absolutely no attention to anyone else as they dueled. He would let his opponent send off the first spell, which did not take him long. "Adynat!"

Immobilization spell, eh? So they wanted to take them unharmed if they could help it. Tom smirked. "Declino tegus!"

The blast of bright red light reflected of a nearly clear shield, though where it had struck had turned silvery for a moment. The Auror sneered at him. "Lepidos!"

Oh, _now_ it was going to get interesting. What a _quick_ change of pace. A blast of purple light flashed by Tom's head, but he luckily was fast enough to avoid it. That would have left a _very_ painful gash in whatever part of his body it struck and was best avoided. He smirked and took aim. "Aegrotatio!"

As a wave of nausea swept over the Auror, he doubled over, retching. Magical sickness…such a wonderful thing. As Tom readied to take another strike at the paling Auror, he was hit by another spell, which sent a tremor through his body and made him nearly drop his wand. Recovering quickly, Tom turned to see another Auror glaring at him, as though trying to tell him that hitting his opponent when he was down was not a proper thing to do. Tom could care less.

"Desmevos," the new Auror cried at Tom.

A thin ribbon of silvery white magic steamed out of the wand and began to snake its way around Tom's body. Behind him he heard the other Auror say "therape" which seemed to dispel the curse Tom had sent at him. Were they actually thinking of attacking _him_ two on one? That was _certainly_ not a proper thing to do…and this new Auror had kept Tom from attacking when his opponent was down. They were contradicting themselves. He would have to do something about that.

"Dilaborus!" The binding spell that had been encircling Tom was dissolved and he turned to the Auror he had been dueling with first, who was struggling to his feet. "Torqueus!"

The Auror that had nearly made it to his feet screamed in pain and fell back to the floor. Not quite like the Cruciatus Curse, but painful all the same. Tom then whirled back around to the other Auror and saw him about ready to cast a spell, but Tom was faster. "Articulus remoror!"

A blast of yellow light struck the Auror and his joints seemed to freeze. When he attempted to move it felt like all his bones were on fire. He grimaced. He knew he would not be able to move without searing pain and it was too great of pain to be able to even concentrate on actually casting a spell. His best bet would be to stay as still as possible then, for he did not know of a way to nullify this curse. Perhaps it would pass on its own. Sadly, he was knocked over and hit the floor, all his joints feeling like they were grinding together. Tom knew he could ignore that Auror now.

The other Auror had recovered from the painful curse Tom had sent at him and had gotten to his feet quickly this time. His wand was already aimed before Tom was finished smirking at the second Auror's fall. "Dynamos!"

Completely caught off guard, Tom was struck in the right shoulder by the spell. The spell forced him into the wall and knocked the wind out of him. When he recovered, he shook his head and suddenly knew he had gotten in over his head with this. He had not been prepared. Melantha would yell at him if she found out. He turned to the Auror that had attacked him and raised his wand, but the wizard did the same spell to him again. He hit the wall again, hitting his head badly and straining his neck. His head started pounding worse than it had in ages. This time had less time to recover before he heard "lepidos" again. The blast of light hit him in the left shoulder and he howled in pain. He slide down the wall halfway, groaning.

With blood now oozing down his chest and arm, Tom struggled to get to his feet, but then the Auror shouted "chtypimus." All Tom could do was grit his teeth against the attack for he did not have the time or strength at that moment to do anything else. He had practiced this curse, and knew the results were not at all nice. It was like getting beaten physically by a dozen people at once. Bruises and welts and even some broken bones…it was none too nice a feeling either. He collapsed to the floor, eyes closed. He coughed up some blood, aching all over. He waited for more but the Auror had apparently gotten someone else's attention.

For a while, he lay still, nearly getting trampled on a few times. When he finally tried to rise, though, a wave of pain shot through him. He found he could not even prop himself up without great pain. He had a feeling his left arm was broken on top of the still painfully throbbing gash in that shoulder. He lay there, breathing heavily…painfully. For the first time he realized there was a lot of noise around him. He could hear Lena shouting somewhere amidst the voices and small explosions from various spells. She was struggling to get to him, shouting his name and spells every now and then. He was lucky to be alive – to be hearing all of this – and he knew it. He knew that those Aurors could have done far worse. The room started spinning.

As he drifted off into unconsciousness, he became afraid of death for the first time in his life. He did not want to fail in his goals that way…not this soon. So he resolved to himself that he did not want to die, ever…he wanted to find immortality, no matter the cost. And that way, he knew that all of his plans would someday be accomplished no matter how long it took.

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To my reviewers –

Lady Madara Snake – are you sure that would be such a good idea? Killing off Lena, that is…I think she's the only one that can put up with him once he really becomes Voldemort. Once chapter 17 rolls around, we'll see if you want to still be at his side…and that's only the beginning of his what's going to be happening there…if you read the first A/N up at the top, you'll have your explanation about Ophelia, too…

Liv – Lena's not jealous (not much at least), she's just annoyed that he would think Ophelia's so great just because she's a Parselmouth too, you know? *blinks* Detail? Where was the detail? *shrugs* And, Ophelia might be important later on, though not till _much_ later on…she's rather young still so she could pop back up during Voldemort's reign of terror…

(insert name here) – you know, there's SOOO many things I'd love to just sit down and have this massive discussion with you…you have some of the greatest thoughts on things of anyone I've ever "met" other than my friend Maggie…^_^ Yes, it would be more regretful for the headmaster – _if_ Dumbledore is really the great goody-two-shoes that we all are supposed to _think_ he is…but what if he's _not_ all great and good? That's what I was getting at in my oneshot and in suggesting that Dumbledore's choices aren't really what we think he would do. I saw no regret in Albus in the second book when I spoke of Tom becoming Voldemort…nor did I catch anything else other than "watchfulness" in the way "diary" Tom spoke of Dumbledore's attitude after the "Hagrid Incident"…so there's something else there, there _has_ to be. Dark wizards that aren't all that "dark"…hmm…I'd say that has to be a bit of coincidence. I was thinking, though, more about Lucius – presents a respectable face to society, but is truly a Dark wizard through and through (make sense?). As for Melantha, I might do a bit of a background for her and add that to the previous chapter and let you know when that gets done so you can go back and see what else there is to her. I agree with you, she's a very interesting character (my favorite, actually, from all the ones I've created so far so I _should_ have worked with her a bit more). I don't know much about snakes (especially magical ones), so I'm not sure how well they travel – though I would think as long as they're in a warm climate they'd be happy – but still, if Voldemort go Nagini before his "fall", where was she all that time and how did Peter find her? And Tom's always thought of having a serpent of his own – he's been thinking of one "secretly" since he left school, sort of a "replacement" for Lilith, he just hasn't found a snake he wants (but he hasn't really been looking either). He did like the attention he got, but it was more of a "I like being the spotlight of the evening *smirk*" as opposed to "they're impressed with my ability to talk to snakes haha!" (though there was that too). He likes having others pay him attention – but what evil dictator/tyrant doesn't? Ugh, another long response…^_^;;

lord archimonde – nope, Ophelia's not his new teacher…though it would have been interesting if it had worked out that way. And he did sort of join the Nychta Paidia…I skipped over a lot here because all he's really been doing is trying to figure out what it is that Melantha wanted him to learn…so you don't get to see too much of the Paidia. The next group Tom gets involved with, though, you get to see a bit more – though not too much more…


	11. Ambrosia & Nectar

A/N : Well, the past month has been quite crappy for me (and most of this is why I've not updated in that much time). First, for some reason, March is a absolutely horrid month for me and, like usual, I got sick and fell into utter depression (which I had hoped would not carry over o this month, but it has). Secondly, with my depressing and ensuing writer's block, I decided it was time to get back in touch with my religion, as I had been severely neglecting it for some time so I needed to do this. And, about that writer's block…I had the worst case of writer's block yet on this story over the "make-or-break" portion of the story (well, in my opinion, at least). I had gotten to the main events that for this story make Voldemort who he is (at least for the most part) and I realized if I could not work this problem out _logically_ (and I stress that for a reason) I would literally have to stop writing this story. Luckily, with the help of two of my best friends, I worked it out…and then had to go work out the fight scene in the chapter after it (these are chapters 18 and 19). Well, I got all these things done (and had planned to update on today even before I had finished these chapters so I'd be sure to have plenty of time to get caught up) and then the spy-ware, ad-ware, a virus, and a failing hard drive finally did in my beloved 4 ½ year old computer (which means I lost the few stories - and my already typed up A/N and responses for this chapter, so I had to redo it). As that I suck at typing on my husband's laptop, I've not done any writing on any stories since last Thursday when she officially died. But, well, that's all in the past now. My writer's block is over for this story (I think), March is over, my computer's being sent 900 miles south so my brother-in-law can do data recovery for me and get my precious stories, and we will be getting a new desktop with the tax returns. I cannot, though, guarantee that I'll get the next chapter up in a week, it all depends on how I feel and if I can get any typing/editing done on the story with this laptop's keypad. But, well, enough of my massive author's note…on with the story!!!

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Chapter #11 – Ambrosia & Nectar

It was three days later when he woke with his head throbbing and he groaned. The bright early afternoon sunlight was not helping matters any. He cracked open his eyes and saw Lena sitting on the edge the bed. He almost wanted to smirk at her shocked yet relieved expression but his head hurt too much. He tried to sit up, but she held him to the bed, looking at him sternly. He saw that he was back in the Eklekti's home, in the room he and Lena had been given while they stayed there.

"You had me _so_ worried, my lord. I was afraid you'd never come around."

"Well," he said, "with a nurse like you, how could I not recover?"

A slight pink color came to her face as she picked up a glass from the bedside table. She gave him a potion that looked and smelled familiar – Melantha's potion she had taught him and Lena to make. Lena had surely thought of everything while he was unconscious. That was one of the things he kept her around for. He drank it quickly.

"Is there anything you'd like me to get for you, my lord?"

The pain in his head was already starting to leave him as she took the cup from his hand. "Actually, yes, there is, though it may sound rather strange."

"What is it," she asked curiously.

"A book of Greek myths."

Lena stared at him. A _what_?! Why did he suddenly want to study Greek myth? They were Muggle creations. Had his injuries knocked him silly after all? After a shocked moment, she nodded and left the room to go searching the shops for a book on the subject. She did not know if she would actually find one in the wizard shops, though, for she had not noticed any. She may have to go look on the Muggle islands nearby, but she had no Muggle money…nor any Muggle-like clothing, which could be a problem.

Once she was gone, Tom attempted to get out of bed but found his legs were extremely stiff. Lena had not said how long he had been unconscious yet it seemed that it had been a while. He massaged his legs for a while then flexed his knees and ankles, loosening the muscles, then he was able to stand without much trouble. He walked downstairs and into the kitchen, where Calida was preparing lunch. She smiled at him, happy to see him up finally.

"Good morning, or afternoon, whichever it may be," Tom said with a slight nod.

"It's afternoon, and good afternoon to you as well." She went back to pitting the olives for a salad. "You were one of the lucky ones, you know."

"How so?"

"Myles, Charon, and Tityus were all killed in the struggle. Akantha, Lethe, Hesperos, and my dear Aristid were captured and sent to the Pyrgos. The children are currently in 'safe keeping' until they decide what to do with them."

Tom looked at her with shock, though she was not facing him at the moment. The Pyrgos was the Mediterranean's version of Azkaban, though with minotaurs as guards instead of dementors. "I'm sorry to…"

"Oh, don't concern yourself. Eunomia and her brother, Eugenios, are planning to break out those that are being held and steal the children back. Then we're going to Kateríni to the safe house there. Ophelia's there now making sure everything clear for our arrival." She smiled at him. "We're always ready for such things. We have to be."

"Being ready for anything is always the best plan."

Calida nodded then glanced at him. "So where did your lady run off to in such a hurry?"

"I ask her to get me something. She, better than anyone, would know where to find it with all the shopping she's done."

"May I ask what you seek?"

"A book on myths."

"Ah." She stopped pitting the olives and turned to him with a grin, wiping her hands on her apron. She had known instantly what he was talking about. "So you're one of _those_, are you?"

The young wizard was puzzled. "Excuse me?"

"You've decided to find the Nectar of the Gods." She was still grinning. "My father was looking for the means of immortality as well – before one of his experiments killed him, at least. I actually have a book of his here…_somewhere_. I'll see if I can find it after lunch."

Tom looked at her in complete awe. His search seemed to be getting off to a good start at least. This was surely a good sign. "Thank you."

"It's nothing." She turned back to start chopping the tomatoes. "I'll never use it. It'll only collect more dust here. Best put it to some use."

By the time Calida had finished preparing lunch, Lena had returned with only _two_ books (both on the subject Tom had asked for). Tom was shocked, having expected her to return with a dozen books, with maybe only one of them being what he wanted. She told him that as soon as she had found the one called _Mythos na Pragmatikotita: Anazitisi gia Athanatos_ (or in English - _Myth to Practicality: Journey towards Immortality)_ she knew what he had meant when he made his request. And that day Tom started his quest for immortality, pouring over the three books he now had (for Calida had found the one she had told him about as well).

Over the next few weeks, Tom did not participate in the plans that the Nychta Paidia were making for the break out and their ensuing escape to the north. He studied his new books and wanted to start his experimenting, but he had a feeling that it was time for him to leave Greece…to leave Europe. He did not want to go to Kateríni with the rest of the Nychta Paidia. He wished to start making his plans to leave, but he did not know where he might go. And he had made a point of not telling Lena that he was making such plans, either.

Tom thought that Arabia or northern Africa might be a very good place to head to next. With as much as he had heard about the wizarding schools there being nearly unable to accept any Muggle students due to the nature of the area Muggle's religion and its strictness in the matters of magic and witchcraft, he thought it might be interesting at least. So he started to make plans to go to Alexandria, Egypt (which was not that far away). He had a few contacts there from his studies under Melantha which could turn out to be useful now…but another opportunity was about to present itself.

Pei Shen came by the afternoon before the planned break out of those that had been captured when the Nychta Paidia's headquarters had been taken. He went to the garden to speak with Tom in private. This got Tom wondering why the Chinese wizard had come to see him. Shen was very rarely secretive.

"Tom, I…I was wondering," he had an awkward smile on his face, "as that all the Paidia are leaving for Kateríni tomorrow, if you would like to have a chance to…steal away, as that it would be a good time to leave."

The British wizard raised his eyebrow. "Steal away with _you_, you mean?"

"Well, yes, I was planning on returning home to China. Though if you prefer to go your own way, I fully understand. We all have different paths to follow."

Tom looked at him, very puzzled. "Why do you want me to come with you?"

"Well, other than the strong desire I know we both have to get away from here," he smiled knowingly, "I feel that we're both seeking the same thing, and, _perhaps_, we can teach each other."

"And what are you trying to discover?"

Shen smiled again, but this time there was a strange gleam in his eyes. "The secrets of magic…"

When he said that, it brought back what Melantha had told him about why she thought it best for him to leave her study. A smile crept across his face as well. That was _exactly_ what he wanted, and if China was where he might find it, so be it. He would discover these secrets, these truths, and find out what Melantha was talking about finally.

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To my reviewers -

(Insert name here) - of course I think you'd be interesting to talk to as that we seem to have very similar ideas and I think collaborating with you or getting your help with some things would be great. And I'd be doomed too as I certainly have the curse of the Gemini when it comes to talking. *evil little laugh* Dumbledore's evil…^_~ I have thought from the beginning that Voldemort had another snake before Nagini (and he gets him in Egypt). I can't stand those people that think Nagini's been with him since he started to Hogwarts - not even magical snakes can live fifty or sixty years Yes, he's more interested in learning at the moment than with "looking" like a Dark wizard, but, I think the learning part is more important than the looks part anyway (and I have a feeling Tom'd agree with me). You have to get the knowledge/power before you can get the puppets/followers anyway. He'll be learning a lot more about the more covert means of taking on the system when he gets involved with his next Dark Arts group (which is much more attune to what the Death Eaters will become). Dropping hints makes things less of a shock when the main event happens (like what Rowling is doing…*keeps her glaring eyes trained on Dumbledore*) because _no one_, not even great Voldemort, can put everything together at once, no matter what others might think. Tom's quest to become immortal (and hence, to becoming Voldemort) is the central focus of this part of the story and is the key factor in that "make-or-break" point I mentioned in my author's note up top. You'll see lots more about it. Looking for immortality is not something that can be done overnight and I think it's eventually his greater pursuit during his journeys. No jail time for the two of them, Lena's too inventive to let that happen, but, yes, their relationship does take a turn towards inevitability in chapter 17 (a ways to go, yeah, but Tom'll have other things on his mind).

lord archimonde - well, this fight just shows that Tom's still very inexperienced. He's only dueled with Lena and Melantha before so there was no real question that he went in totally unprepared. And, well, I had to find _some_ major traumatic event to have his mortality become a reality to him. Greece was just such a natural place for him to discover this since the "nectar and ambrosia" is well known as the thing that makes the Greek gods immortal.

Liv - I'm glad you liked the fight and it's good to know I did a nice job with the spells…I really tried with them. Tom still trusts Lena mainly because of the Legilimency, yes (though I'm sure he didn't think she might be using Occulmency right back at him). But he also really doesn't want to suspect her because 1) she's his potions expert, 2) he needs a constant companion and he's used to Lena filling that gap, 3) she's female, he's male and there's some things that can't really be handled any other way and this stay pretty much a "kids'" story…^_~ And it's not that I wove in the part about his not wanting to die, it was more the entire reason that the previous chapter was. Those last lines were the most important part of that chapter.

RivanKnight - *drinking shake* Glad you think the story's coming along nicely. And, as I told Liv above, those last lines were the main focus for the story. The reason I had him duel Aurors was because I had to give a logical reason for him to have started his search for immortality (to fear death). But, yes, there is a reason for everything, it's just thinking of the reasons.


	12. The Truths of Magic

A/N : Okay, I know this took two weeks to get up but for some reason I just didn't feel like updating, then I realized why this morning - my beta reader (*hugs her tightly*) hadn't gotten this chapter back to me yet. But, when I opened up my e-mail, she had sent me the highly edited version of what I had sent her and so I fixed it up some and decided it was time to post. ^_^ I'm hoping you'll all enjoy Tom's time in China, though some it does start getting a bit strange from here on out.

A/N 2 : In this chapter you find out, of course, what those "truths of magic" are all about, though they're nothing too thrilling. You'll probably just be severely disappointed when you read it and complain. Sorry about it. But, as I say in this chapter, it's often more fun, surprising, and educational to find things out for yourself than to just have someone tell you what it is you want to know. Right…?

A/N 3 : And, also, as that no one seemed all that interested in my one-shot I will be taking it down in the next few days. But, that might be a good idea, as that it hints at things that happen later in the story and I want it to be something of a surprise, if I decided to carry through with it, at least.

A/N 4 : As a last note, please understand, I don't fully understand Chinese culture or language so if there is anything that I've done wrong here, or in later chapters, please let me know so I may correct the problem. I like to try and be as accurate as possible, so help me in doing this if I'm incorrect with some aspect of the story. Thanks…

Well, on with the chapter…and PLEASE read and review. ^_^

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Chapter #12 – The Truths of Magic

Now, for the third time in less than five years, Tom and Lena packed swiftly to leave. Lena was surprised that he had decided what they were doing next without telling her sooner, but she really did not complain as she had been sure that they _would_ be leaving Greece. But going to _China_?! She had not expected that…

And this time it was going to be a _much_ longer and more difficult journey since flying to China would to take a _very_ long time. They had no idea how Pei Shen had done it alone when he had first come to Greece. By the way Tom figured it, it would take more than fifty hours of flight to reach their destination (which would mean about a four-day trip with rests and all). He did not know if he would be able to manage such a long journey on a broom.

Another thing that was a problem was that Tom was the only one of them that knew _any_ Chinese, and he was not very good at the tonal system they used. Pei Shen had assured Tom, though, that many of his friends actually spoke quite good English and was sure that the two of them would learn Chinese well enough. Lena was not too sure, though, for she already knew half a dozen languages fluently and really did not want to have to worry about learning _another_ one, even if there were spells that helped you in the process. She had just had enough of them already.

When Shen returned the next afternoon from finishing his own packing at the Synetus' home, he looked at their brooms with a smile. "Oh, we aren't flying."

Tom raised his eyebrow, confused. "How else are…"

"You've never done _burenhouchen_ before," the Chinese wizard asked, though he was sure the knew the answer already.

Both Tom and Lena were puzzled and asked together: "_Burenhouchen_?"

"Oh, um…" Pei sometimes had trouble remembering that others did not know what he meant when he used his native tongue and looked rather embarrassed. "You might know it as 'tagging' or 'trailing' or something of that sort. You mark someone as a target with a certain spell, they Apparate ahead of you, and then you follow them to their location."

"I've heard of it. It's called Sequatium." Lena looked apprehensive. "Though I've heard it's very difficult."

"It's not _that_ hard. If you're good at Apparating, you should quickly get the hang of it." Shen smiled reassuringly. "We can give it a try and see what you think of it before we start Apparating to China."

And so Shen had them Apparate out to a quite spot on the beach they all knew of not far from town. He gave them instructions on how to follow the tagging spell. They tried it and found that it was, indeed, difficult. Tom, however, quickly got used to it. Lena lagged behind a little, mainly because she doubted the accuracy of using this method over great distances, and she reminded Tom of how little he had practiced Apparating at all in recent years. While Lena was used to going five hundred miles regularly, the farthest Tom had ever gone was about half that when he had gone to Little Hangleton to murder his father a decade before (and he had not traveled that far since then). Fortunately, Shen assured them that he would not go too far so that they could easily follow him.

It had taken them much of the afternoon to get used to tagging. When Shen was confident that they would not have any trouble following him, he said that they should go get their things then come to him where he would be waiting, as a final test for them. Tom and Lena Disapparated back to the Eklekti's home and said a quick good-bye and good luck to Calida. She smiled and wished them well. After that, they gathered their trunks and "tagged" the Chinese wizard to wherever he was waiting for them now, which happened to be at the Synetus' house. He was very pleased with their accuracy. As soon as he got affirmation from them that they were ready, he nodded to them and disappeared. Now it was up to them to keep up with him as he Apparated across nearly the entire expanse of Asia (and that was about a five thousand mile journey).

They were to land near sixteen different cities along the way to Shen's home, which was in a small wizarding village outside the Muggle city of Fengchieh on the Yangtze River. As they started across the Muslim nations, it suddenly occurred to Tom how much traveling Pei Shen had to have done in his life, even though he was still so young. Shen had to _know_ where he was going before he popped there because if you did not know the lay of the land of which you were traveling to, you could end up getting stuck in a wall (which, in Tom's opinion, was worse then splinching oneself). Tom was rather envious of Shen's travels, knowing the Chinese wizard had seen more of the world than he had.

Because they were headed east, it had gotten dark much quicker. By the time they were finally within the Chinese border, it was nearly one in the morning local time. When they arrived at Shen's home, they were exhausted from how much magic they had used. Shen showed them to the room they would use while they stayed with him. They gratefully collapsed into the bed he offered and immediately went to sleep. Voldemort did not even caring that his head had begun to throb from all the work he had done that day.

***

In the morning Tom _really_ felt the headache that he had gone to sleep with. He was glad he had brought a few ready-made potions made up that would relieve the pain. Once his head was feeling normal again, he went out with Lena to gape at the beauty of the landscape. Tom even wanted to pull out his broom and take a flight around the gorge to see the full beauty of it all. Shen told them, though, that anything beautiful Muggles would eventually destroy, no matter the importance of the Three Gorges area to the culture of the nation.

That day Shen started teaching them Chinese. Lena was not all that interested until she was told that if she wanted to go shopping, she had to learn the language of the land for most Chinese wizards only knew their own language. After that she put her full effort forward…but shopping was the _only_ reason for that. Once she figured she knew enough, she went shopping too, and came back saying she had succeeded at not insulting or confusing anyone, which their new host smiled at, seeming to have accomplished his goal with her. After that, Lena began to spend much of her time at the Chang Cheng Yin Yu (the shopping area located near part of the Great Wall).

Tom was ecstatic when, on her third trip to the Yin Yu Lena returned with a Chinese tome entitled _Pao P'u Tzu_, which Shen explained was an ancient text (about fifteen hundred years old) that explained means to become immortal and which was based in Taoist thought. It took Tom a while to learn to read all the Chinese characters, but he could eventually understand it and found the means presented there of yoga, proper eating and breathing, and the ingesting of certain minerals and metals to be quite different than the European approach with just sought out magical means with potions and such. But he told himself to overlook nothing and so did indeed start incorporating some of the steps therein with his other plans. Shen gladly taught his guest what he knew of meditation and yoga.

The meals in China were quite an experience for them, though Tom _quickly_ got tired of rice. Breakfast, lunch, _and_ dinner…_everyday_. Granted, what went with the rice offered quite a variety of taste and texture, which sort of made you forget that you were eating rice with each of the meals. In fact, Tom became rather fond of Sichuan chicken.

Tom had many things to write to his friends about now, but he still wrote no more than once a month to each of his friends. One good long letter was fine, in his opinion, yet Lena _still_ wrote almost weekly to her father. The amount of information she had to be telling him was getting on his nerves for some reason. He began to have the slightest twinge of doubt about her loyalties to him again after he had felt assured of them with her saving him and caring for him while he was unconscious. It seemed to him that she was telling her father everything to help his spying. He ended up questioning her about this but, even with his ability at Legilimency, he found no lies in her calm responses when he questioned her about the letters. This put him somewhat at ease.

And, when it came to the real reason that Tom had packed up and come to China so quickly and willingly, Shen did not disappoint his new guest. Once the young Dark wizard had gotten the hang of the Chinese language, Pei began teaching him some spells. But in doing this, he also had to teach Tom about the flow of _Chi_ (the most important thing in all magic, Shen said). And Shen's explanation of it really interested Voldemort.

"_Chi_," his host had explained, "is present in all life. It is divided into yin and yang - light and dark; good and evil; male and female - the polarities of existence. The more _Chi_ one has in them, the healthier they are. With wizards, _Chi_ determine your magical abilities also. The more you have, the more powerful you are. It is important to know _Chi_, for it is the essence of magic, the source of your power."

Tom also returned the favor Shen was doing for him by teaching the Chinese wizard spells from the Hermetic system of magic that Shen had not yet learned. It was then that they both realized the very thing that they had been looking for…and it had been right in front of them the entire time. Once they discovered what it was, Tom wondered why Melantha did not just tell him this _simple_ little thing (though it _had_ been more fun to figure it out himself).

Each spell Tom and Shen had ever learned had an effect or color that went with it: stunning spells were typically red, binding spells always seemed to use some form of rope to hold the victim, all transfigurations were accompanied by a ripple in the air and around the object, and so on. Well, this was apparently true for _all_ paths of magic. The effects and colors were _always_ the same, though with some minor variations. But that was not the end of their discoveries.

The similarities also encompassed potion making. The magic that Tom had learned, Hermetic magic, encompassed pretty much all of Europe, most of the Arabic nations, and the New World so even when he was studying what he saw as "different" magic under Melantha there was little difference with what they were doing since it was all from the same overall system. As that Chinese magic had developed half a world away from Hermetic magic, though, these differences were clear to him. Certain potions that could be considered counterparts often had the same brewing instructions, the same smell, or the same color. Even some of the ingredients smelled or looked similar or could be interchanged with ones in either system.

This was what Melantha had truly meant by the "truths of magic." It had very little to do with the spells you used, it was all in the intent. Magic was magic, they later decided between themselves. It is neither good nor evil, neither constructive nor destructive in its intent. It was neutral. It was just _magic_. The wizard is the one that put the intent behind it, that "colored" it. The incantations and herbs were just tools to help focus the magic with the right emotion, just like the wands were. If you got good enough with directing your magic, you did not need to say the words and could even stop needing ones wand for certain spells.

It did not take them long to start looking into spells and potions from other lands. They also started trying their magic without their wands, which took a _lot_ of practice to get even the simplest of spells right. They actually decided to stop trying to perform too difficult of spells without their wands, though. They had found that it was just too dangerous to not use their wands. They really did _not_ need to change the rice bins into tigers again when they were attempting _repelling_ charms (and who knew what might happen with more complex spells).

But, still, they found that what they had found was indeed the way that it was…it was the truth of magic. Voldemort wrote to Melantha and she congratulated him in her reply, telling him that she hoped he would continue to travel and see what else he might discover. Tom had no intention of returning to Europe anytime soon, but when he did, he planned to go to Albania to see her and thank her personally. And she had also said that she wanted to see what sort of great Dark wizard he had become when he did return.

After a few months in China and shortly after they had made their rather startling discovery, Pei Shen first mentioned the group of Dark wizards that he was associated with in his home country, the Gaoji Zongpai Anwutianri – the Elite Order of Darkness(*). Tom was not all that interested at first after his experiences with the Nychta Paidia, but then Shen explained some of the things his group did…and when he mentioned Muggle hunting Tom became very interested.

Shen _gladly_ invited him to their next meeting…

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(*) Note - Gaoji Zongpai Anwutianri literally translates into "high-ranking sect of absolute darkness" (according to the dictionary I used) but what I was going for is what appears as my translation (and sounds better to me, too). As that I'm not familiar with the Chinese language, the words may not be organized properly or may be lacking elements. If anyone out there knows how to correct this, if it _is_ wrong, let me know. Also, in the rest of the story, I will be referring to this group as just "the Gaoji" for simplification. Though this basically means my calling it "the high ranking", it sounded better to me (and has more of a ring to it) than "the Zongpai" ("the sect").

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To my reviewers - 

lord archimond - nope, not dead, just taking a break, as all authors need from time to time. Sorry the chapter was dull. I tried to make it interesting - having Tom _really_ begin his search for immortality there. Hope I did a better job with this one.

Liv - his studying instead of helping with the plans for the breakout was mainly a feeling of "I'm not staying, there's no need for me to get involved with that". I think, though, that when he becomes "the Dark Lord" later in the story, he'd be the one making the plans then telling everyone to do what he says. ^_~ And he really didn't drag Lena off with him, he just told her at the last minute. He could have left her behind, but he didn't. She's still got her role to play in the story, whether you like her very much or not…:-P

Mayhem El-Diablo - hmm, I didn't notice that Lena hadn't been acting "submissive" in previous chapters…*shrugs* She'll learn her place more in later chapters - though not in a very good manner.

(insert name here) - eh, yeah, I am feeling better, though I still haven't been very productive. I actually wrote a full chapter for this story in a day last week and love it (though I wonder how my beta reader'll like it…^_^;;). And Tom, here, has patience because he doesn't really have anything he _has_ to do at the moment. Though he _is_ patient anyway. I mean, look at how long he waited to get his hands on the prophecy in book five… He knows where he wants to go, yes - power and immortality - and he has to know pretty much how he's going to start getting there at least then find other things along the way to help him out. His stubborn refusal to die? *shrugs* Nothing too shocking there, really, just that (for now) he wants to make sure he can implement his "dreams" on the wizarding and Muggle worlds. Later on, when he finally gets into power, he'll see immortality as a means by which he will be unstoppable because no one can defeat (read as "kill") him - until little Harry comes along, at least (but even then he's not really defeated). And how is Lena in for the shock of her life? *blinks* I didn't get what you meant there. She does know him really well, but there's not all that much she doesn't know about him so there's really nothing too shocking for her to find out…I don't think so, at least. *ponders this for a while longer*


	13. Masks of the Soul

A/N : May seems not to be a good month for my HPFF either (if you remember what I said about March sucking). Last year on the first part, I lost nearly half of the first part of this story due to my parents' word processor deciding since there wasn't enough room on the disk that it'd make room by deleting it from the disk - that was about a dozen chapters and notes on other that I lost. Luckily my then beta reader had them and resent them to me and I only had to redo five or so. This year, I did not lose as many, but they were only on my disk as that they are the chapters I'm currently (and soon to be) working on - chapters 21-25. I only lost eight pages of information, which isn't nearly as much as the fifty or so I lost last year, but it's still going to be hard to replicate as that it contained much of the information for the events that will forever change Voldemort and Lena's relationship. Luckily I remember much of it, but unless I get motivated and inspired, I don't know how long this will take to redo…and that might mean another break in the writing of the story. Granted, I'm only updating once every two weeks or so now so what's the difference, eh?

A/N 2 : I don't know if I've mentioned this before or not, but I am currently thinking of splitting this second part of the trilogy into two parts - cutting off this story when Voldemort returns to England after his years abroad. The second part would be all about his rise to/time of power, the Marauders (yes, they will be in it, they're important), the events at the Potters, and the subsequent trials of Death Eaters. This would make this part of the story only around 30 chapters and the other part about the same. What do you all think of this? Should I split up these sections? Do you have no opinion? Or do you think I should continue on and make this part around 60 chapters? I'd _love_ some feedback.

Chapter #13 – Masks of the Soul

Before Tom was taken to the meeting, Pei Shen made him put on a full-face mask made of plaster. It was rather plain and the only explanation that Shen gave was putting on one himself, though his was far more elaborate with real hair and decorated so that it looked like a _real_ face, though it looked nothing like Pei's own face. Lena passed on the chance to go to the meeting, saying that she much rather preferred reading her book than mingling with Chinese Dark wizards. Shen grinned at her behind his mask then took Tom to the meeting place, which was northwest from them in Hanchung.

The local sanctum of the Gaoji looked to Tom like it had at one time been a palace. It seemed like there were hundreds of steps leading up to the main building, which was painted vibrant red. At the base of the stairs was a pair of Tien Kou - fierce dogs that were usually considered destructive creatures and were _not_ to be confused with the benevolent guardian Fu-dogs. Several ropes hung between the building and the trees on either side of the base of the stairs with dozens of white paper lanterns on them, lit by a magical glow.

Pei Shen led Tom up the stairs, which took a while, for they went slowly and there were a lot of stairs. Once at the top, they passed under a high porch, which was supported by four large round columns. Vine decorated white paper lanterns swung in the breeze on the porch, shining their enchanted light around them. The closed, realistically painted doors were intricately carved with clouds and serpentine dragons, which actually moved, eyeing the visitors. Windows along the porch were covered with a screen of very finely woven silk over them, which was thin enough to see heavy black curtains through and the faintest glow of candlelight.

Shen knocked four times on the door then they both opened quietly before him. The hallway that led into the sanctuary was long and dimly lit. Long black curtains blocked any other passages off from this hall from view. On the far side of the hall was a set of closed doors much like the ones they had just come through, but their carvings were rather different. Instead of more clouds and dragons, these doors had a few stands of bamboo and fierce looking tigers moving across them, which growled at the two that approached. Tom drew back some when this happened. Shen took note of this and smiled at him reassuringly, though the young wizard could not see it.

"They won't attack _you_. They only attack if you weren't…_invited_. But there are other methods of stopping intruders besides the doors."

Knocking again four times, these doors opened for them as well. Tom had expected these doors to open onto another room where the Gaoji would be assembled, but they opened onto a large courtyard. The courtyard was green with trees and grass. Stone paths wound their way through it, around weather worn boulders and several statues. As they passed by the statues, Voldemort noted that they were all of people with the most horrible expressions of pain imaginable on their faces. Shen told him they had been playthings for the Gaoji before they had grown boring and turned to stone in the midst of their pain. Tom found that rather interesting.

All around the edge of green courtyard was a covered walkway with doors leading to other rooms hidden in the shadows. Shen did not veer off of the direct path across the garden courtyard and stopped at yet another door, this one an uncarved and unpainted door. Shen knocked four times once again and this door, too, swung open silently.

Beyond this door was a room draped in black silk. A heavy air of incense wafted through the room, coming from the five censers spread equally about the room in a circle. Tom felt slightly dizzy from the suddenness of the scented smoke. Oil lamps lit the chamber, casting flickering shadows on the floor from the fourteen robed and masked figures gathered in the circle of censers. They all turned their masked faces towards the two that entered and Tom knew that they were interested in this new comer, for of all the masks being worn, only his was plain.

"Your guest, I presume," said a male voice from behind a mask with a grimace on its face, black hair framing the mask that hung to his chest. The face upon the mask seemed rather feminine.

"He is." Shen bowed. "He is called Voldemort."

"Hn." The man walked to them and looked Tom over with dark brown eyes. After a moment, the eyes reflected the unseen smile on the wizard's face. "He _does_ seem powerful. The flow of _chi_ in him is great. And there is certainly an unmistakable darkness in his heart and mind. I think he will be a _fine_ addition to our group."

And with that, Tom was enveloped in the folds of the Gaoji Zongpai Anwutianri…

The first task that was set for Tom was to kill a Muggle. _Any Muggle_. It mattered little who it was or where he or she was found or what he or she did for a living. This was part of the initiation into the Gaoji. For them, this was typically their first kill, though not always. Tom had no problem whatsoever of killing some random Muggle. It was the second task, though, that bothered Tom somewhat.

Once he had killed this Muggle, it would be _their_ face his mask was made to reflect. Most of the Gaoji had gone for beauty in their victims, but Tom did not care what they looked like, really. The thought of going out to kill randomly made him feel a joy he had not known since he planned his father's death. He had not killed anyone since that time, he had been too wrapped up in his studies. It seemed rather a waste of his abilities with the Killing Curse after all the practice he had put into learning it. But he had not been around anyone that he had wanted to kill since he had left England…not really, at least.

All he did was sit around the nearest Muggle village for half a day to find someone that appealed to him. And the one Muggle that did strike him as the one that should be his victim, who to him had a perfect face for his mask, was a little old woman with charcoal gray hair and a look about her that showed she held great wisdom. She was a simple seamstress who lived with her three grown children, their spouses, and seven grandchildren near the edge of the Yangtze. She disappeared from her home that night and was never seen again. Tom made his mask with ease, putting the woman's wizened features onto the mask with a simple spell – and when it was complete his desire for the deaths of Muggles was once again burning as bright as it had when he was still at Hogwarts. He went back a few days later and killed the rest of her family for the mere pleasure of doing it. He left them in their home, their looks of shock still emblazoned on their faces.

Once his mask was done, he underwent the long process of final initiation. It consisted of several tests - all of which he passed - and was followed by an elaborate and formal ritual that included chants, drums, tons of incense, and a living sacrifice. It was nearly overwhelming for Tom, as he had never encountered anything like this anywhere before. But he _did_ feel changed afterwards. He felt a part of the tight knit little group they had in Hanchung. More so than he did when he was part of the Nychta Paidia.

Now that he was initiated, he learned the inner workings of their group. Corruption of the Wizarding government, blackmail, experimentation, Muggle hunts, and revels were just a taste of what went on in the dark, incense filled rooms of their sanctum. Tom learned more from them in a month than he had from the Nychta Paidia in the three years he was associated with them for they had left much of the inner workings to those that were _permanent_ members of their group. Tom had, after all, just been a temporary member, and they had known this very well.

Of all the things the Gaoji did, though, what Tom loved the most was the Muggle hunts. Much like the first part of the initiation process, these were times when random Muggles from various parts of the country were gathered together and set loose to _literally_ run for their lives in a dark forest. But there was never any escape for them, for they were trapped within the forest by magic. They were easily killed or recaptured for use in experiments (in which they died anyway).

When Tom was not dealing with the Gaoji or studying with Shen, he was usually studying something new, but was most especially searching for more information on immortality. He had slowly become more and more interested in learning this dangerous path. It could quite easily end up killing him or permanently incapacitate him if he were not careful about the potions for they were fickle things. He did not care about the consequences, though, for it was a goal he wanted to attain. And his ambition would not allow him to fail at any of goals…_especially_ his search for immortality, for the memory of when he had nearly died still weighed heavily on his mind.

What took up most of his time was his search for eternal life. Voldemort had studied the three books he had gotten in Greece thoroughly, as well as the one Lena had obtained for him hardly a month after their arrival in China. Then he had turned his attention to studying immortal or near immortal creatures. Many of those creatures had "parts" that were needed in most of the potions that was going to try. He wanted to know all he could before he started making the potions or casting the incantations (which were long and complex things that had to be committed to memory and could only be used once). Though, when he finally started making the final preparations for all of these things, he would never know if they had worked at all unless he was actually faced with death. But he did not want to be faced with death again.

To my reviewers -

(insert name here) - giggles I think that's become your name for me, you know "(insert name here)"… Hmm, no, Lena can't see her relationship with Voldemort ending (though honestly I don't think he can see it ending either). I'm glad you noticed the name changing, I thought that it was appropriate, and it makes it easier when I finally start calling him Voldemort all the time. Like you said, he is changing, so I need to reflect that. If you pay really close attention, you'll notice the usage going up more and more in each chapter until he's only called Voldemort. Yes, to some people that "truth" is already something that they would think of, but remember, very few wizards are logical (Hermione said so). What does it mean for creation of spells? blinks I've honestly never thought of "spell" creation. Potions are so much easier to figure out in my opinion and that I know, but the interchanging of ingredients isn't that uncommon, I'm sure. Wandless magic is something I think he's going to keep practicing but he'd never be able to use it for the Unforgivable, they're just too difficult to do that way, at least in the HP universe - so says its goddess, J. K. Rowling. Gradually working to a point? Some people actually can't stand that about me - I explain stuff too much and they just want me to get to the point quickly usually. But, I like explaining things, it makes it easier to understand sometimes because some of the concepts I use aren't known to everyone.

Mayhem El-Diablo - Lena and Muggle torture? What's so great about those things? And I'm not going to go into great length about the Muggle torturing/hunts here because you'll get more of those later on…evil grin And China is great, isn't it.

Liv - Lena isn't related to Severus _that_ directly. Cousin, yeah, but all purebloods are related, right? Lena will never have children, anyway, so she couldn't be Severus' mum. Voldemort thinks she's helping her father spy only because she tells him _everything_…but he can't sense her lying. She might be skilled in Occlumency…or she might be telling the truth. You'll find out later. It's one of those suspenseful things, you know? And if I had to eat rice at every meal, I think I'd be sick of it, too, after a while.

lord archimonde - Norse runes and magic for immortality? blinks Why the heck haven't I thought of that one yet?! That's perfect! Thanks! I have a book on the main runes around here somewhere, and there's plenty of stuff on the internet. That will be very good for him to do when he returns to Europe and I'll make a note of it, but I don't think he'd really look in to that until then as that it's sort of a cultural thing and he didn't like runes in school because it was what Dumbledore taught in my story before he went to Transfiguration (I think…been a while since I looked at that part). Glad you enjoyed that last chapter.


	14. Return to the Diary

A/N : Yes, yes, I know. I've been taking forever to get this chapter up, and I do sincerely apologize. I've been waiting for my beta reader to get back to me - which she still hasn't done, so I hope everything is alright with this chapter, and I apologize in advance for any cheesiness you find herein. I've also gone into another slump with my writing, but this one is more severe than just "writer's block". For a month now, and you can all blame my rereading the books for this, I've been seriously considering _literally_ rewriting the entire story. I've left too many holes, have thought of too many little alternatives, and have honestly begun to detest Lena and Voldemort's relationship myself (so, Liv and May, you're not alone there…::sigh::). And, also, my lack of friends with whom to discuss Harry Potter has also taken it's toll and I feel very cut off from my two best friends, who are both nearly 700 miles away. But, I will trudge on, for the moment. I've thought of some alternatives to later chapters that is where many of my problems were cropping up, so I might just be able to go through with all of this. If I have any votes for rewriting this (from chapter one of "Journey into Darkness"), let me know. That might end up being my answer…sucky as it is to have to redo everything. Well, on with this chapter…

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Chapter #14 – Return to the Diary

The time Voldemort spent in China was what he considered the best time of his life. It was where he really began to become the Dark wizard he was setting out to become. There were so many changes going on in his life, so many ideas that he was developing that it was impossible to later look back on his years in the "Middle Kingdom" without anything but pleasure. The only thing that really made the time there not enjoyable when he was living it was the headaches from all his studying and experimenting, but those were easily remedied with Melantha's potions.

The Gaoji was far more appealing to Tom than the Nychta Paidia had been. There were no government takeover schemes. Everything was done more underhandedly and covertly. They were influencing the Chinese Ministry of Magic with money and blackmail. Special members had been placed within the Ministry to work from the inside to the group's benefit. They had even gotten some of the _guangshi_ (Chinese Aurors) on their side through corruption and bribery. It was all so appealing to Tom that he saw this as a much better way to do things than what the Paidia had done. The Nychta Paidia, upon reflection, seemed to just be _toying_ with being Dark wizards and he thought them rather foolish for that for you do not play with something like that.

Once Tom had proven his worth to the group, he began to get to know the members of the Gaoji (or at least his area's group as there were many different group spread throughout China). There were fifteen members, not counting himself, in the Hanchung assembly. All the members, of course, were either pure or halfblood (though there were only three of them counting himself). Most came from very wealthy families that had earned their gold over many generations through typically honest business practices, especially trade with the West. Most of them were not married but even if they were, their spouses did not know about their association with the Gaoji – with the exception of the Wul family, Liwei and her husband Chen.

It was through his new companions, especially a young woman named Tong Yujie, that he began to correspond with other Asian Dark wizards. Some of them were learning, like Tom was himself, but others that were masters of the Arts and would pass a few secrets on to him every now and then. He had correspondents in Japan, Russia, India, Australia, and throughout China. And since he knew that one day he would be leaving China (for he was sure there would come a day he would have to) it was a nice feeling to have so many possibilities of where to go next.

And when I came to correspondents, Lena and her father were still doing the same thing they had since she had left home – writing letters as often as they could. With the increased distance between them, they could not write once a week, but it was usually not more than once every two and a half weeks that a letter came and went. Other than wondering if Lena's poor, aging Taliesin was going to give out soon with such horribly long journeys, he was also wondering just _what_ Lena was telling her father. Ever since they were in Denmark, he had been thinking about the possibility of Korbin really being a spy, and it did still seem to make sense. But he had been thinking about it less and less nowadays. If Korbin _was_ a spy, though, it would certainly explain why he was less than happy to see his daughter (his only child) slip away with him, Tom, someone who was _clearly_ studying the Dark Arts. Or had it just been that fact? That Lena _was_ his only child? With his wife, Casia dead now, Tom surely was lonely, even with all the work Lena said he did for the Committee of Experimental Potions.

Over the previous three years since he had arrived in China, he had made several great achievements when it came to his search for immortality. For one, his understanding of potions and herbs (which was often times backed up by Lena's more extensive knowledge) allowed him to examine all the potions that he had at his disposal to see where mistakes might lie, or where improvements could and should be made. Lena was rather grateful to help him out, especially when it came to _buying_ the things he needed for his experiments.

Tom had never really understood how he would ever know if any of his experiments had worked or not unless he got into a life-threatening situation, and he did not want to _purposefully_ put himself in such a position, just in case whatever he had tried had had no effect at all. The best thing for him to do was to make them and simply hope, but that was not something he liked. He wanted to _see_ results of what was happening, to _kno_w that it had worked. And after three attempts (two potions and one incantation), he _did_ notice a change about him, though it was not something he had expected.

Though Voldemort had known for some time that his eyes had a tendency to gain a red glow or tint to them (which he learned was a inherited trait from his Raghnall ancestry), his once hazel eyes were now the most vivid crimson red he had ever seen. This rather shocked all his companions the first time they saw this (as they usually saw him with his mask on and his eyes were really the only thing you could see). Lena told Tom reprovingly that he should be thankful that it was only his _eyes_ that had changed. Some of the potions she had looked at in his now five books on finding immortality could seriously change him in other ways too even if made correctly, though the three he had already tried were some of the _least_ dangerous ones he had found. She dreaded what other physical changes might occur with the more complex (and, thence, dangerous) ones.

One of the things that the Gaoji prided themselves on was their skills at dueling – something that Voldemort knew he needed quite a bit more practice with after his defeat in Greece. It was a lot more educational to duel against this group of highly skilled wizards than it had been when Melantha was teaching him (though she had really only taught him the basics). The fast thinking involved, the agility that had to be learned, those were some things that he was lacking for the most part and he sharpened those abilities much more than they had been when he had been in Greece. He knew that if ever he was caught in another duel of that magnitude, he would _not_ be caught so unprepared.

Another thing that Tom had learned from the Gaoji was what most European Dark wizards would call "Subjugation" – the art of possessing another living being and exacting your will through them. It was a bit like the Imperius Curse, yes, but with this method you were the one _doing_ the act instead of telling a person to do something and setting them to it. It was also more dependable than the Imperius Curse, being less likely that someone could actually throw off your invasion into their mind. Tom liked the feeling of control he had when using this magic and he _quickly_ mastered it.

Subjugation was used for fun among the Gaoji, just as the Muggle hunts were, but Tom found the use of this art even _more_ interesting than hunting. Though he could not use magic through a Muggle, that person's hands were plenty. Muggles were all such simple-minded fools and it was easy to control them. Once he had mastered the art, the only affect on the Muggle was a simple "loss of time" (well, that and the accusation of whatever Voldemort had done while possessing them). But Muggles, he realized after a while, were not really all that much fun, so he "played" with Lena some. It surprised him that though she knew all the times he had taken possession of her, she had never fought it. She seemed to rather _enjoy_ it, actually.

It was shortly after one of his ventures into one Muggle's mind (which ended up getting quite bloody for the woman the Muggle was with) when he thought of his diary for some reason. He had often pulled it out and updated spells on it (as well to teach the "Tom" within it a few new things). Now he wondered if he should pull it out again and add the knowledge of Subjugation to it as well. It would surely be something that could come in handy. If the diary was given to someone unwilling to open the Chamber…in fact, he could then _speak_ Parseltongue through them as well, thence being able to use _anyone_. He dug out the diary from his personal pile of books (the only few that Lena was _not_ allowed to touch) and began figuring out what he needed to do to make this new addition work correctly. It took him several weeks of work on it to get it right, but he did not know if it _would_ work. He would only have to trust in his own skill.

When he was finished he sat looking at the diary, smiling at his handiwork. He had put much time and magic into that little Muggle book. He was proud of himself…_very_ proud. And as he sat reminiscing, Lena wandered in, taking off the stained outer black robe she wore when making potions to reveal her silk, velvet trimmed pale yellow and midnight blue robes. She looked at Tom as she pushed a stray lock of hair that had fallen from her bun behind her ear. She was eyeing the diary curiously. She was good with recognizing the books they owned, and she had never seen that one before.

"What's that, Master," she asked curiously as she walked to him.

"My diary," he said, somewhat blandly.

"I didn't know you had a diary." Lena looked at it even more curiously as she stopped at his side. She carefully picked up the book, in case he did not want her to see it, then opened the cover, seeing his name in smudged ink there. Her eyebrow raised slightly, seeing "T. M. Riddle" written there. "You wrote your birth name here, my lord?"

"Yes, I've had this since I was at school. I did not need someone that did not know the name 'Voldemort' accidentally finding it and wondering whose it was."

"True." She flipped through the book but was surprised that she saw no writing on _any_ of the pages. "You haven't written…"

There was a faint smirk on his face. "It is not a diary in _that_ sense."

The most puzzled look he had ever seen came to her face. "It's not? Then what's it for?"

"I'll show you." Tom picked up a quill and inked it. His smirk returned as he handed the quill to her. "Write your name."

The witch looked at him utterly bewildered. He wanted _her_ to write in _his_ diary? "What do…"

"Just do it," he said, command in his voice.

Lena set the little diary down on the table and did as she was told, writing her full name on a random page: "Lena Kerri Westbrook". Her name remained there, the ink soaking into the paper some as it dried, then it sunk in more, and then it was gone. Lena blinked. She stared at the book before her, wondering what had happened. Then other words came back to the page and she looked somewhere between curious and terrified as she read them.

"Hello, my mistress," the diary responded to her.

If she had been holding the book, she would have dropped it. The quill, though, did hit the floor and left a small splotch of ink there. She looked at Voldemort, not knowing what to think. Her mouth worked for a moment she tried to speak but no words came out in the beginning. Finally she struggled out: "Ma…Ma…M-m-master?!"

A smirk was still on his face. He rather liked seeing her like this. "It is quite alright."

To her there was nothing "quite alright" about it and she wanted to know what had happened. "But…"

And then Tom explained to her about his ideas for giving it to a future student to take to the school and then let Lilith back out. He had decided, though, that if the person that obtained the diary were to be unwilling to do so, the diary could possess the person and do it through them. Lena was awed at all of it and looked at Voldemort with a slack jaw for a while after he had finished his explanation.

"You have created a _sentient_ being? And you created it while we were still at school?!"

Voldemort looked at her, wondering if she thought such a thing was beneath him. He was mildly irritated at that. "Is that so surprising?"

"No, not really, it's just…it was rather unexpected, is all, Master." She examined the diary again and smiled. "It sounds like it's a very intelligent diary."

"I would hope so. I have used it as a sort of grimoire several times, so plenty of what I've learned in more recent years is in there as well." He liked when he impressed her, but he did have rather a habit of doing that. "Everything I put in there pretty much makes 'Tom' more intelligent."

The witch was still looking at the diary very much in awe. "It must be nice talking to yourself, too. Two of you would surely be better for thinking up schemes, my lord."

"Indeed, it is, though I do not often do that, as I study more often than naught."

Retrieving the dropped quill, Lena fell into thought. When she stood straight again, she brushed the feather against her lips, she gazed at the diary, almost longingly. She was silent for a long time as she thought. "Master…"

"Yes, you may borrow this to talk to my younger self, if you desire." He smirked, knowing that was what was on her mind – though he had no idea _why_ she wanted to write in it, to talk to "Tom". "Though it is not yours to _keep_. And know that whatever you write in here will most likely come back to me."

"I have no need to worry about that, my lord. There is nothing that I would keep from you, so it matters little that you would see it."

With her saying that, the Dark wizard looked at her with slightly wide eyes. He knew she had not spoken lie with that and it surprised him. With everything that was going on – with all the suspicions he had had about her loyalties over the years – if she had nothing to hide from him, then there was really no reason for him to suspect her, was there? He let her take the diary from his hand as he still pondered that, then watched her walk to the porch that led out to the garden by their room to start writing in it.

Once he finished thinking about Lena's loyalties, his mind turned to his experiments. He _did_ really want to know if he had succeeded yet at gaining immortality, but he was not _desperate_ to know. He would simply need to keep making new potions and casting new incantations and hope that one or a combination of many would, in the end, give him what he so desired. He would need Lena to go fetch him more ingredients soon but she would not complain about that (though she had begun to stop going to the shops as much as she used to, preferring to actually read and experiment herself). Once he had the things he needed he could get to work on the next potion. He did not care how dangerous it was. He would achieve immortality no matter the cost. And as he thought that, his red eyes gleamed with the hunger that that goal always stirred up within him.

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To my reviewers -

insert name here - glad you accept my name change…that's what I've been calling you for ages, after all. Yes, I'm still alive, don't worry, just deep in serious thought is all (and on holiday and stuff, too). I know that it would not longer be a trilogy if I made it four parts, I never said that it'd remain a "trilogy" if I did make it four parts…:-P I don't think I did, at least…;; If agony keeps you all within my grasps, though, perhaps I should not get straight to the point from now on, that way I keep you all under my control…::maniacal laughter:: As far as the implications of using someone else's face, it's more about showing "I have the power you require of me to be a member" and "I have power over the pathetic Muggles and I'm not afraid to prove it", if you can understand that. Imagination is the thing that can make things far more horrific than they really are…or maybe even give you a proper vision of what's happening when things aren't described verbatim. Yes, the spells can all affect one another, but at the moment Voldemort's not going too much regarding immortality. Many of those potions are very complicated and take a while to brew. And he doesn't want to make too many potions and possibly get something in the brewing mixed up and then have everything go terribly wrong. The Dark Mark doesn't show up till much later, after he's returned to Europe. Very, very true point about "first year" spells without a wand, there. It is a tactical advantage. And as that we all know that Dumbledore can use "banishing" and conjuring spells without a wand (as proven in book three when the school goes into the Great Hall after Sirius' break in), it's safe to assume that Voldemort, his magical rival you could say, would be able to do the same. I'm glad you still love the story…and, as I keep saying, I hope you'll still be loving it later on…I'm starting to hate it in parts, personally…but I am my own worst critic, no?

lord archimonde - that vision of Muggle hunting is pretty much what I've always envisioned it as. I can't see any other plausible way to do it. If you have a different view on it, I'd really _love_ to hear it. It could just be another way of hunting, you know. This is just the first instance that Voldemort's run across. And I'm really sorry about posting delays, it's just that there have been annoyances that have kept me from doing what I should be doing in regards to this story. I'm going to try and get back on track, but I can't make any real promises.

Liv - well of course Voldemort'll love Muggle hunting! That's what he's loved since about his fourth year at Hogwarts. Glad you liked the chapter. That was one of my more favorite chapters to write, actually, though getting it the way it was took so long. It was worth it, though.

Mayhem El-Diablo - no torturing Lena…okay…she goes through enough in "alternate" stories in my head to the point she doesn't need extra torture here. :-P Don't want me to stop, eh? Well, there will come that time when I must end it all, but hopefully it won't be for a while. And I'm glad you love my writing. Vote taken for "two stories"…

RivanKnight - glad you thought it was fantastic, that really means a lot. Everyone seemed to really like that chapter, and that's very good. I did do my best with that chapter, as that there's so many little cultural nuances that I wanted/needed to put in there. And I hope that I did a good job with the accuracy. ::eating cookie:: ::munch munch::


	15. Auror

A/N : YAY!!! It didn't take me another month to get this chapter up! CELEBRATE!!! Hopefully I'll be able to keep up this "once every two weeks" posting. Though I know you all got used to the once a week thing, I think that was wearing down on me some too, along with everything else. Hope you enjoy this chapter…

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Chapter #15 – Auror

Two more years passed. It was spring again. It had nearly been fourteen years now since he had graduated from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It had been a little over twenty years since he had taken his first steps down the part of the Dark Arts. He had come to realize just how much he had learned since he had first found out he was a wizard, and he was impressed with himself. He knew he was accomplishing what he had set out to do.

Voldemort had only recently decided that the next place he would venture after he left China would be India. Though he had had the chance to go to Russia (or the Soviet Union, as the Muggles there were now calling it), Australia, Japan, or nearly half a dozen other countries, he chose India because they had been the third "cradle" of magical development. All of the major magical systems had originated in three different regions of the Old World – the Mediterranean, China, and India. He had learned the magic of the first two (though had also learned that magic was magic, no matter what system you were learning) and he wanted to see what new things he could learn in India. He had heard many interesting things and wanted to see for himself what it was like.

There were three teachers (or gurus, as they were actually called) that were quite interested in having Tom as a student. He was currently thinking over which of these masters would be the better teacher for him when he finally arrived in India. He had not set an exact date for when he was planning on leaving China, but when he finally did, he wanted everything to be perfect for his transition from one nation and system to the next.

His experiments on finding immortality were going along very well. Five more times he had attempted the incantations or potions that he did not know the results of with Lena standing close by in case anything too adverse happened (though the worse that _did_ happen was his passing into unconsciousness for several hours with one of the potions). He wondered, though, if he would _ever_ feel any different after an experiment so he would _know_ that it had worked or whether he would always be left wondering until some event that should have taken his life did not. It annoyed him somewhat. He would just have to keep trying and trying until he could no longer do so – though that would indeed be quite a long time from then, he assured himself with a smirk.

Overall, Tom was rather pleased with himself. He was growing stronger in the Dark Arts. He was an accomplished legilimens and occlumens. He was searching for immortality. His dueling skills were some of the best within the Gaoji now. Subjugation was _literally_ second nature to him now as much as he had used it. He was learning how _superior_ groups of Dark wizards were set up and organized and what they did. And he felt he only needed a little more time before he would be ready to return to England and start carrying out his plans to purify the Wizarding race, plans that he had been steadily formatting and changing ever since he had left Hogwarts. But then he thought about it and wondered if a thirty-two-year-old wizard had a chance of doing what he wanted to do. Did he have enough experience and knowledge yet? Would people take him seriously? He doubted it. He simply needed to continue studying to become even more powerful than he was at that moment. People would acknowledge power, so if he found it and used it, then he would be able to do all the things he so desired to do.

But one of the things that made him most pleased was not concerned with his studies. It was that his periodic thoughts of Lena's being a spy had finally been abated. She often slipped off with his diary to write in it and he came to learn that she spoke to "Tom" because he, Voldemort, was often too busy with his studies to listen to her trifle little concerns and thoughts and she knew she could convey them to the diary, and that was nearly the same as talking to him in reality. Voldemort had really not known what to expect from Lena's constant borrowing of the diary in the beginning but now he thought it was good that he had let her for he learned more about her little thoughts, which he found rather interesting. She seemed happier, too, now that she had let out some of her worries and hopes, telling the diary that she hated keeping them suppressed. And she even got one of her wishes granted soon after she had written it down - getting a bit more attention from her master in the bedroom…something that had begun to be very rare indeed.

Everything lately had been so wonderful. He had not felt so wonderful since Lilith had killed that Mudblood at the school years before. Everything was looking hopeful for him. He was learning so many new things and meeting or corresponding with many of the greatest Dark witches and wizards in Asia and Australia. Nothing would be able to ruin his joy of falling deeper into the Arts he thought, but he had never counted on something coming up and spoiling all his fun. But one never really does.

It had been a rather long day. Tom and Shen had gone to the Yin Yu to buy supplies they needed for their next round of experiments and had been gone all morning and into the afternoon. Lena had, strangely enough, passed up the chance to go with them to get to work on a potion she was dying to try. But when they returned, they found someone waiting for them in the front garden, looking rather grave. Tom never would have realized who she was by sight, even though he knew her rather well. Even Pei Shen was surprised to see her at his home.

"Zhi, what are you…" But the witch cut Shen off and started talking rapidly.

It was the first time Tom had seen the woman (Fai Zhi, one of the elders of the group) without her mask on, and her visage actually surprised him. Her face was kind and grandmotherly (kinder than he could have imagined after some of the things he had seen her do) and set with green eyes, a rarity among Oriental peoples. She was older than Voldemort had guessed. She appeared to be in her late sixties, though her hair was still very black without the slightest hint of gray. She was talking so fast in Chinese that even Shen was having a hard time following her (Tom was _completely_ lost), but the Chinese wizard got the main points she was trying to make and his look turned very grim as he looked over at his guest when she had finished.

"I do think it's time you were going."

The British wizard was still completely lost and shook his head slightly, surprised by this sudden announcement. "But _wh_y?"

Shen sighed heavily, knowing that his companion was not going to like hearing this news. "There's apparently an Auror here looking for you."

"An…" Voldemort had never heard Shen use the word "Auror" since they had left Greece, as the term for them in China was _Guangshi_. His first thought was of an Auror having followed him and Shen from Greece, having traced them from the Nychta Paidia. But still, that did not seem likely, not after so long. There either had to something else going on or it was all just a mistake. "But how do you know they are after _me_?"

"He's been asking around about any European wizards in the area. One of the _shi_ we have on our side said he's from England." Zhi was talking now and had hardly slowed down from the pace she was at a moment before, but Voldemort still understood her, but barely. "Someone says they heard your name mentioned – your given name, that is."

Tom's mouth fell open slightly in shock. Okay, so this was not just some mistake. "He…"

Another sigh, this one sounding rather depressed, came from Shen. He did not want his guest to leave, they had done so much together, but it was better - safer - for him to go. "This is serious, Voldemort. You _must_ leave immediately."

It took him a moment, but he nodded. He was leaving much sooner from here than he had _ever_ planned to. He had not even finalized anything with any the gurus about his coming to learn under them. He did not like having to make yet _another_ quick departure. He did not like always being forced from the places he was studying. But this time, it was far more important to leave as fast as possible. Without another word to his host, he hurried off to his room to inform Lena, hearing Shen and Zhi started up another fast conversation as he went. And, as he went, what had just been told to him was just really starting to sink in.

A _British_ Auror was in China looking for him. This did not bode well at all. Something strange was certainly happening, but what he had no idea. He began to think over all the possibilities as he headed to tell Lena they had to pack, but when he got to the room, he saw Lena was already packing. Half her things were already put away. And even with magic, there was _no way_ she could have had the time to do that since Zhi had arrived with the news - as he had caught in her hurried explanation to Shen that she had been waiting there only an hour. Had Lena already known? She had to have…

"Where have you _been_, Master?!" She had only spared him a glance before she went back to her frantic packing. She was clearly out of breath as she dashed back and forth to put various potions' ingredients into a magical bag. Magic would have made her task a lot easier, but, clearly, she was somewhat panicked at the moment. "I looked for you and looked for you. We have to…"

"Yes, I know this, but how did _you_ know," he asked, going to help her, though he had a hunch he already knew how she had come by this information.

"I received a letter from my father this morning. He told us to leave, that it wasn't safe."

Voldemort suddenly wondered if her father had just meant for _her_ to leave when he sent the letter. "So how did your father know?"

"He has connections and all, you know. He heard that there was someone coming to look for us. He didn't want us to be caught or anything."

That just sounded a _bit_ too suspicious to him. "But _why_ would anyone be coming to look for us?"

"_I've no clue_." She closed one bag, shrunk it, and set about filling the next. "I just know he told us we _have to_ leave."

There were too many things that his mind was mulling over while he packed for him to be going at any speed. Lena ended up doing most of the packing for him because he was so preoccupied. And the entire time they were packing and while Tom went to say his farewells to the few Gaoji members he knew well enough to know where they dwelled, he wondered about Lena and her father. Was either of them _really_ trustworthy? _Should_ he send Lena back home to England so she would be with her father and so he would not have to worry about Korbin knowing the exacting details of what was happening to them? Should he simply kill her and be done with it? He did not really know. But the thought of carrying on his journeys without Lena did not set well with him. He needed her still and he did not want to get rid of her quite yet, even though she might very well be a threat. Soon things would have to change, though…one way or another.

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To my reviewers -

Mayhem El-Diablo - I still think that Lena has enough trouble ahead of her that she doesn't need any extra torturing, though you have helped in planning that "trouble" now, so I hope you feel pleased about that. Thanks so much for offering to assist me with the story and talk some stuff through with me, it's really helped (though I think I've told you that already a few times). Talk to you laters…

insert name here - Lena does miss him some, actually, and it's the "just lonely, with Tom off learning global terrorization/domination" part you mentioned. She misses his paying attention to her, as he definitely pays more attention to his studies now than he does her (that's one of those things I tried to bring out about her borrowing the diary). And I just said that the diary would repeat everything to him as sort of a threat, if you can understand my meaning there - but it also let her know that if she wrote it, the diary would repeat back to him some of her more pressing issues (another thing about me having her borrow the diary in the first place). And if I rewrite the story, it's not going to just be some things that get changed - I'd get Lena out of Tom's life when they're in sixth year (after her mother dies), so he'd be alone on all his travels that I'm now writing about. And that would be very hard… But going back and making the "second edition" with some minor edits and revising here and there, I will eventually get around to, but nothing as drastic as I had been planning.


	16. The Mark

A/N : Well, this is getting posted two days later than I had hoped for. You see, there's this little addiction I've got called "Final Fantasy XI". Granted, I'm nowhere near as addicted to it as my husband, but it does rather distract me from working on my stories - not like I don't have nearly 10 chapters of this story done that I haven't posted yet, but still! I'm still going to be updating once every two weeks, though, so stay alert! Do enjoy the chapter - India was one of my hardest sections to write, but it should be well-done. Again, anyone that knows these cultures better than I, please inform me of any problems you see and they shall be rectified ASAP!

Oh, and BTW, Voldemort and Lena in this chapter (and most of the following ones as well) are now right around thirty years of age.

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Chapter #16 – The Mark

Shen had given them directions to a Wizarding community between the Nepalese border and the Ganges River in India. They had flown there on their recently acquired flying carpet, which they had gotten to replace their aging brooms. Voldemort had been very happy with getting rid of the brooms, for he did not like that mode of travel very much, preferring Apparition whenever possible. The fact that brooms were not a common item in Asia, though, was another reason they had gotten a carpet instead. It was a much more comfortable journey than the ones they had made at the beginning of their travels.

When they got to the city they had been given directions to, they found an inn and got a room. Now it was up to Tom to find out which of those gurus that had offered to teach him further could actually accept him on such short notice. Each of them had a group of students that he taught but the Dark wizard did not know how many each was willing to take on at once – he did not even know exactly how many each of them had at the moment. He could only hope that one of them would allow him in, else he may have to give up on India for the time being, which he did not like the thought of doing. He had heard so many good things about India and wanted to learn more.

One of his possible teachers, Girish, the one Voldemort _really_ wanted to study under, was unable to take any more students (he had a limit of ten) and it would be over a year before he could take a new student. Another of his hopeful teachers, Loknoth, told him that if he could wait five months, he would be able to accept him. Tom, however, did not want to wait even that long. He wanted to get a teacher as quickly as possible. It would be safer that way. His only hope remained in Yama, a once highly respected and feared Dark wizard. In recent months, however, that had waned and Voldemort did not completely like the idea of becoming Yama's pupil. He had heard the Indian wizard was having quite a deal of trouble with another wizard called Lord Markandeya, someone Tom considered quite akin to Dumbledore in disposition.

In the end, though, Yama accepted to interview him for becoming a pupil of his and so Voldemort made the preparation to head south to the Western Ghats, where his new teacher's citadel was. He would be one of fourteen students. There were younger students than he and older. All were male, though there were several women that stayed in the citadel with them, though mainly as servants.

Samdhya Kota (Yama's citadel) was located not far northwest of the Muggle city of Belgaum. While to Muggles the stone fortress looked like a dangerous wall of granite, it was actually a very large structure of cut granite that was fitted to the curves of the mountain it was built on. It looked rather like a walled city or fortress from Europe. As they had been informed by Yama not to fly up to the entrance (the guards were a bit jumpy of late due to attempts by Markandeya to get into the citadel) they had to climb the stairs that led up the mountainside. Voldemort carried their rolled up flying carpet under his arm while Lena carried the single, feather-light trunk all their things were stored in. The stairs led directly to the main entrance that was clearly Mogul influenced with its graceful arch that ended in a slight point at the top. They could not see too much beyond the high wall that surrounded the complex except for a single tall building that was near the wall and that had lights shining in the windows. It looked rather inviting to both of them in the quickly gathering darkness.

Sentries were watching their approach from the battlements. There were two guards at the doors who had drawn their wands before Voldemort and Lena had even topped the stairs. They paused for a moment when they saw this but the Dark wizard went ahead (Lena stayed where she was a moment longer before following him). Visitors at this time of day – an hour after sunset – were surely not a common sight so the guards did have a right to feel somewhat apprehensive.

"I am here to see your master." Tom was _very_ glad most of India spoke English, as he had not learned much Hindi and there was no telling what dialect (or other various language) might be used.

Both the guards looked rather unimpressed with this statement and stared at the tall, pale, and thin wizard. The one closest to them spoke. "For what purposes?"

"He has said he will interview me about becoming one of his pupils," the British wizard answered firmly, keeping an eye on their wands.

"Then state your name, for we know who it is that's supposed to be coming here."

Looking up, looked into the brown eyes of the guard that was questioning him with his red ones, which made the man gulp, apparently somewhat shocked or scared. "I am known as Voldemort."

The two guards at the door glanced at each other, visibly sighed, then put their wands away. The one that had spoken turned to the door. "Follow me, then."

As they passed through the doors, Lena grabbed her master's arm. She was not feeling very comfortable at the moment. She rather felt they were walking into some sort of trap. "Master…"

"Quiet," he hissed.

The Dark wizard knew what was on her mind, she had been talking about it since the letter had returned from Yama only two days before. She did not like coming to Yama's citadel. He did not doubt her fears over it, for he was having a few thoughts against it, too. He had even told the innkeeper that he might be returning. But they were here, now, and there was not really a chance to back out of it easily. And he was interested in finding out what Yama could teach him that he did not already know. It was the hunger for knowledge and power that made him walk into the dark courtyard beyond the wall.

They entered a large open space that was so dark they could only make out the black shapes that rose around the edges of the courtyard. Though they seemed to be part of the mountain, Voldemort was sure they were buildings of some sort and most likely residences or places of study, though none of them were lit. The three of them were following a stone path, which the guard must have known well, for he did not need any light to see it. The building they were headed for was the only one lit within the citadel's walls – the one they had seen from outside the wall. As they got closer, they could hear much talking coming from within.

The guard entered the building but stopped just inside the doorway. The talking stopped as well. Voldemort could tell everyone was curious as to why he was there. Lena was still clinging to the sleeve of his robe. He shook her off and whispered for her to be calm. Someone from deeper in the hall called the man forward and all three of them began walking to the far side of the room.

When they entered, Tom instantly felt rather drab in his rather plain black robes. The room was lavishly decorated with golden trimming and intricate mosaics of bright colors. Golden oil lamps hung from the ceiling, burning brightly and making the room shimmer slightly. There were about a dozen men sitting around on large blue pillows, each having at least one woman tending to him. The men were all dressed in rather rich robes of various colors. The women were dressed in traditional Indian sari, which were all blue and gold. They only looked at the two for a moment before going back to their merrymaking.

At the head of the room sat two men, both appeared to be in their sixties. One was seated slightly off to the side of the other, wearing green and beige robes with long black hair and many wrinkles. The man seated at the center of the room (who Voldemort suspected could only be Yama) was dressed in blue and gold robes with a blue turban on his head and was the only one of the people in the room wearing a smile, which erased some of his own wrinkles but enhanced others.

The guard bowed. "Lord Yama, this man…"

"Yes yes." The turbaned man waved his hand at the guard, not needing the explanation. "Go back to your post."

The man that had lead them there bowed again then turned and left, though not before giving the new arrivals quite a disapproving glare.

Yama was nearly beaming at the wizard that had just arrived. "So, _you're_ the one that is asking to be my pupil."

"Yes, I am Voldemort."

"As I have said before, you seem like you _would_ be a promising student and now that I see you, I feel that my assumptions my have been correct." There was a strange gleam that arose in his eyes as his smile broadened. "From what I understand, you are already knowledgeable in much magic, but I think I'll be able to expand your knowledge, if you agree to become my student, that is."

"But he's antaraprabhava," the man on the guru's left said lazily. He was looking at the British wizard with great distaste.

This statement got the attention of all the other students in the hall. They all turned their eyes to Voldemort. A few murmurs were passing between the wizards behind him which made him rather uncomfortable. Though _he_, Tom, did not know what "antaraprabhava" meant, he was sure that it was not something that was favorable for him - possibly even something that could be dangerous for him in this place. He glared at the old wizard that had said that with just as much distaste as he was showing him.

"He's not worthy to be your pupil, master." The man looked to the guru, his speech haughty. "He should be made to leave."

The Dark wizard was turning hot with rage and his red eyes now flashed dangerously at the wizard that had dared to insult him. Lena, knowing these signs, took his arm, hoping to calm him, but it did not work. She quickly drew her hand back to keep from having him direct his anger upon her, as he had done that once or twice in China when he was frustrated over various things. But the next comment made would not allow her to remain quiet as she wished to do.

"Now, the woman _accompanying_ him," the insulting wizard smiled at her pleasantly, "_she_ would be worthy of your wisdom, _if_ she were a man, that is."

Lena turned red – in rage and a bit in embarrassment - and scowled at the wizard. "Even if I _were _a man, I would _not_ study under _him_. I am not here to be taught, nor do I plan to enter unto _anyone's_ tutelage. I learn on my own. It is only my master that desires to learn from you, Guru Yama."

The teacher raised his eyebrow at her then turned to the man at his side. "Sanat, you will hold you tongue. Though his blood may not be pure, he is surely more knowledged than you."

Voldemort was still angered, more now than before. So _that_ was what the term had meant, that he was not a pureblood. He hissed slightly, eyes narrowed. If there was anything he could not stand, it was people reminding him of who his father was. If he were not there to be taught, he would kill the entire roomful of these wizards. His hand even twitched, wishing to grab his wand so he could make these idiots understand what it would mean to remind him of his parentage.

"But, Master Yama…"

"The purest lotus blooms in the most putrid swamp." At these words even the few remaining murmurs from the students in the hall faded. The guru looked around at his students then to the man at his side before looking back at the wizard in front of him. "Voldemort, I think that I will accept you as my student if you are still interested. And I hope that you will learn much as you study under me. We will talk a bit more in private shortly." He looked towards one of the women attending one of his other pupils. "Rajni, take Voldemort and his lady to the room that is prepared for them."

The woman that was called for silently stood and swept them from that building. Once they were in the dark courtyard, she said a spell and a ball of light appeared in her cupped hands. Lena oooh'ed at the enchantment and said she wanted to learn that spell. They were led across the courtyard to one of the dark buildings then taken inside. The torches automatically burst into flame as they approached them. They were led up a flight of stairs that wound up to the second floor. The last door on the right was the room Rajni showed them into.

"This shall be your chambers while you are studying under Yama. I am sure that he will be up here shortly to seal the contract with you for your studying with him. Do make yourselves comfortable." And with that she bowed slightly to them and left.

Lena was looking around. It was a rather simple room. The walls were a rather plain pale blue that was only broken by the various geometric designs that hung on them. The building itself was made from granite and wood though you could hardly tell that from inside. There was a censer burning near the green draped bed that filled the room with the smell of sandalwood. Sheer curtains covered the open window and stirred in the slight evening breeze that was coming into the room. There were several mahogany settees with many variously shaped green or blue pillows on them. Two chests sat on either side of the largest settee and were decorated with golden hinges and metalwork.

With a slight sigh, feeling much better now than she had when they had first arrived, she wandered over to the arch window and looked out over the dark courtyard, seeing the woman that had brought them to their room returning to the hall where the others were. She had no idea, though, that Tom, who still stood in the doorway, was eyeing her rather maliciously, still fuming over what had been said about his unworthiness to be there.

"I _despise_ you at times, Lena," he said coldly to her, which made her instantly turn to him with wide eyes.

The witch shook her head slightly, not understanding why he had said this. She had no idea what she had done wrong, but she could not hid her mild fear of his words. "Master, what do…"

"You, with your _pure_ blood…" His eyes flashed dangerously, his voice nearly a hiss and she cowered back slightly in fear. "I mean, you _are so_ much better than I, after all. Aren't you?"

If the wall had not been directly behind her already, she would have backed up some with this insinuation. She shook her head again, though this time in disbelief. "No, Master, I'm _not_ better than you. I've never thought that. And I don't mean to make you feel however I have made you feel, my lord, whether you are mad or disgusted or annoyed at me."

Voldemort took a deep breath and actually calmed himself. He did not need to be growing angry with _her_. She was not the one that was to blame. Neither of them could help what their parentage had been. Lena could not make things any different than they had always been. And though there were those that thought him undeserving to be among purebloods, _she_ had never accused him of being unworthy of anything just because he was a half-blood.

"It isn't you." He hung his head down and rubbed his face with his hands. He was silent for a moment. He could feel the beginnings of a headache coming. "I am still failing at the thing I have most wanted to achieve."

The witch watched him rather worriedly, curious as to what he meant. "What would that be, my lord?"

"To escape my impurity." He walked to the window and looked down on the mountainous landscape. There were a few lights from a far off Muggle town visible near the horizon. He scowled. "I have ignored it so long, it seemed to have gone away, but, tonight…"

"To me, Master, you are as pureblooded as Darcy or Aurius or I or any other pureblood we've ever known. You cannot help your own parentage. You are pureblooded in your heart and mind, my lord, and so you _are_ a pureblood." She smiled reassuringly at him when he turned to her. "Do not let those _fools_ down there tell you that you are not _worthy_ to be taught by this guru. You've been taught by better already, surely. If anything, you're _more_ worthy than they, for you are doing more than they ever will. You are greater than they are…and more powerful."

A smirk appeared on Tom's face then he turned back to look out the window. "You _do_ know how to flatter me."

Lena giggled slightly. "If I flatter you, it is with the truth, my lord."

It was about an hour later when Yama and another wizard in green robes came to the room to see Voldemort. He immediately apologized for Sanat's behavior and explained that the wizard was his advisor (of sorts) and had an uncanny ability to sense what sort of blood a wizard had. Sanat did not approve at all of Mudbloods and halfbloods seeking out training from _real_ wizards, and Yama said that he agreed with it, but Tom was British and the "rules" with wizards outside of India were different than what they followed in their own nation. Yama told him, as he handed over the contract to be signed, that he was sure that Voldemort was more learned than most of the wizards he knew personally.

The Dark wizard had known about the contract that he had to sign in order to study under this guru, but he had not been told what it would entail. He had certainly hoped that it would not be anything too demanding of him, though, especially not any terms such as "to protect your teacher with your life". If that were the case, he would be Disapparating immediately, but there were no such terms to studying with him. It was only a five-year contract to simply state he was something like a servant of Yama's as long as he was a student and gave him do's and don'ts about living in the citadel and various other things. There were, of course, the usual hexes and curses that he knew accompanied most contracts and other oaths. The only thing that bothered him was the mentioning of a "marking" in the contract, which had not been mentioned to him before.

"It is a simple thing, really." Yama said when his new student asked. "Just a tattoo, you could say, on the wrist."

Tom raised his eyebrow upon hearing this. "What sort of _tattoo_?"

"It is a blue eight-pointed star." Yama motioned for the man that had accompanied him to show his right wrist, the man pulled up his long sleeve some and revealed the gold outlined blue mark there that was less than an inch across. "The initial marking stings some but it fades after only an hour or so."

Voldemort did not quite like the thought of getting this done, especially if it were permanent. "Can it be removed?"

"Of course, though it requires quite complex spells," Yama said, apparently trying to make sound nearly impossible to do.

This, however, did not perturb the Dark wizard. "Certainly no more complex than I have done before."

"Then, if you are content with these terms, do sign," the Indian wizard said with a broad smile, handing over a quill.

The quill the wizard handed him was a long, thin black one with a _very_ sharp point. Voldemort knew what it was and cringed slightly. He had used those types of quills before when other "contracts" had been signed, but he had not known he would have to sign this simple thing in his own blood. He decided there would be no point in arguing, it was only his name, after all, not his _soul_. He took up the quill and signed his name in his own crimson blood. The words "Lord Voldemort" were magically etched on the back of his hand as he had signed and he hissed slightly at the momentary sting. Before he handed the quill back, the cuts had healed over.

"Good! Now…" He looked at the green clad wizard that had come with him. "If you would, Salmalin."

It only took a moment, but it was a more painful moment than when he had signed his name. The wizard had clasped his hand around Tom's wrist with his own palm against the Dark wizard's wrist then Salmalin had closed his eyes momentarily in concentration. When he removed his hand from Voldemort's wrist there was a bright gold and blue mark there in the shape of an eight-pointed star. It still stung a bit, but he hoped Yama had been right about that fading after about an hour. It was quite an annoying feeling.

And seeming extremely pleased, Yama nodded. "I expect you to join the other pupils in the hall in the morning."

And with that, Yama and Salmalin left the room and headed back to the Sitting Hall where the other students were surely still gathered. Voldemort and Lena went about getting settled some before they turned in for the night. Tomorrow would surely prove to be tiring with his first exposure to Hindu magic.

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To my reviewers -

Liv - I was wondering where you had gotten off to. Did you ever get around to reading the chapters? You never came back to review me if you did. Moan all you want to about Lena - I honestly hate her now myself. ::sigh:: But the next chapter you will surely like - I know that Mayhem El-Diablo did when she read it.

insert name here - the "New World", yes, I see as having its own brand of magic - I also think that Voldemort would have a similar "Nazi" look at the natives of the Americas (Hitler and his followers believed African descended and Native American Indians were different _species_ - not really human - and called the Amerindians "Mudmen" - all too reminiscent of "Mudblood", don't you think?) On a sort of side note, I also think that there's not that many pureblooded witches and wizards that came to the Americas - thinking that it would "besmirch" them if they did, thinking it would be nice if all the Mudbloods went over there and left them in peace. And I don't think that Voldemort, even in all his cruelties, would sink so "low" as to bathe in blood and become a cannibal (though as an anthropologist I understand the reasons behind such beliefs/practices, they just have their place in their respective {most would probably say "more tribal"} societies and not much in the Western societies, where it's seen as utterly appalling - no slander intended in that statement, so please don't think I'm being a biased). Ghosts I really don't think harp on anything much about "wizard immortality". It's just something of a "final magic" that they do to keep their souls from crossing over. Though I could honestly see Voldemort becoming a ghost, as much as he fears death (which would be a somewhat interesting twist, but if Harry kills him with the Killing Curse, I say that that curse doesn't allow for ghosts to come of it). And about the workings of Tom's mind - he's a male! Don't ask me to figure out how their minds work! I just know that he doesn't trust her - though, the fact that he knows Lena to tell her father _exacting_ details of what they're doing/where they are does make him wonder (and you know he's probably a really paranoid sort of wizard).


	17. A Question of Loyalty

A/N : Oh, I know some of you will like this chapter…::wink:: A little bit of Voldemort's "later" character comes out nicely here. I rather liked writing this chapter too, just so you all know.

A/N 2 : In the next two chapters (and some in the previous chapter too) I incorporate information about India that I have tried to make as reliable and accurate as possible. As I have said before, if at any point I get it wrong (and, when it comes to India, offend anyone) please to let me know.

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Chapter #17 – A Question of Loyalty

Magic seemed so much more _complicated_ in India than anywhere else he had been (even though many things had been derived from Hermetic magic due to Arabic and British influences over several hundred years). There were so many _little_ things that he did not know when it came to learning under Yama that all had to do with the culture of India. There was Brahman and chakras and sutras that were all being discussed and everyone except him knew everything about them. He got so confused at first. It was, of course, Lena who found several books explaining the things that were puzzling to him as that he was too busy in lessons with Yama to search for anything himself. Even the books confused him in the beginning, though.

At the first chance he had, he wrote to Shen and asked why the magical system in China had not seemed as complicated as it did in India. Shen explained that he had glossed over most of the "native" aspects of their magical system and had only gone over the very essential parts. Shen had known how the Hermetic system worked, as he had studied it for some time before he had met Tom, so he knew pretty much how to teach someone from that system about Chinese magic. When Voldemort got that answer, he felt rather sheepish over it, but was quickly frustrated again over the complexity of the new system he was studying.

Another thing that bothered him (aside from all the differences he encountered) was the degree to which the native religion played in magic and the lives of the wizards. He had never been very interested in _any_ religion in his life and suddenly being thrust into a place where religion was a part of how society and magic was set up was rather difficult. There was the daily puja (worship and devotion), which was hard to get a grasp of at first. He thought it was rather silly that a Dark wizard would devote himself to any divine force. Voldemort saw divine beings as being _creators_ and Dark magic was usually seen as a destroying force after all. The only thing Tom liked about it all was that there _were_ aspects (or, as Western society would call them, gods) of their one divine being that were worshipped for their destructive natures. It was all part of their idea of reincarnation, that destruction and birth were all part of a great cycle and must exist together. And that did resonate with Voldemort, for he was seeking a rebirth of sorts when he returned to destroy all the things that he saw were wrong with the way the Wizarding world worked. So perhaps there _was_ some use in this after all.

The learning of the "holy" text (mainly the Vedas) were enough of a problem for him because he had to learn to read Sanskrit, but that was where most of the Hindu magic was derived from so he _had_ to study them. And the complexity of some of the incantations (mantras) was far greater than what he was used to. But there was more to Hindu magic than just that, there were rangolis and yantras that created magic through the drawing geometric shape with different colored sands or powdered rice. Then there was, of course, Tantra. It was not really how the West had portrayed it, being nothing but for sexual purposes (though there _was_ that, too). It was really more based on the magic used by the underground "lower caste" that had come about with the invasion of the Moguls centuries before that involved Hermetic magic and alchemy. The "true" wizards had later adopted it because it was "easier" to use than the native magic.

And there was another thing about India that Tom had to learn, and he rather agreed with many of the points – the castes…

The wizards of India called themselves Mayavina, the caste of magic. They considered themselves the highest of all the castes and allowed no lower castes (Mudbloods) to join. Children of mixed parentage (_antaraprabhava_) were nearly always dismissed as unworthy and unclean – which was the reason that Tom had been nearly ousted from Yama's study. He had told none of his prospective teachers of this "impurity" as he saw no reason to say anything, but it had found him again once he was there. But Tom had certainly proven his worth since then, for he was nearly as powerful and knowledgeable as their teacher was. That fact, though, made Yama view his newest student with a bit of contempt. This was what got Voldemort the time he needed away from the other pupils so he could do his own studying, for Yama did not want Voldemort around his students too much and make them awe over his power.

It was hardly a month after he had first gotten there (_just_ when he was starting to get used to everything) that he was politely and quietly dismissed from the group lessons, though Yama still tutored him on some things, but even that became rare over the following months. This did not bother Voldemort very much, though, for the amount of lessons had bothered him greatly. He had gotten so used to not having anyone telling him what to do and what to study in the past eight years - since he had left Melantha's study. He greatly wished he had found someone to study with as he had done with Shen instead of seeking out another teacher. He had rather enjoyed collaborative working and studying with plenty of time for his own private things and he wanted that again.

After another month with rarely even seeing Yama let alone learning anything from him, the Dark wizard was wondering why his teacher did not just void the contract and let him go seek other study, but it never happened. And he would not find out why that was for a few more months yet…

Voldemort was still corresponding with other Dark wizards throughout Asia and he enjoyed that several of them still shared little secrets with him or helped him with new things. Many of his correspondents in India were questioning why he had chosen Yama and one even stopped writing to him. He had not realized that his teacher had so quickly gained ill favor among the other Dark wizards in India due to his growing conflict with Markandeya. He discovered how severe the situation was after he had been under his tutelage for only a week when a large explosion rocked the citadel which Tom later learned was the latest of many attempts of Markandeya's to get into the complex. This continued to happen at random times usually three times a month or so and it got to be rather bothersome.

This tension made Voldemort seek out trying to find another teacher in India quickly, not caring that he would be breaking the contract with Yama if he left. But, as that his other two possible teachers had learned he had accepted Yama's offer, they refused to take him as a pupil now. The Dark wizard was sure that if he ask any of the other gurus he knew of in India, though they might accept him but become angry if they found out he had already been Yama's student. His only hope, then, would be to get out of India to find another companion to study with. He began sending letters to correspondents in Arabia and Egypt – it was time to be heading back to Europe soon, he was sure.

Letters between he and his companions from school still traveled back and forth, though no more frequently than they had when he was in China. The only thing that had gotten his interest up enough to write what he thought was a _lot_ of letters was that Darcy had written him and informed him that Grindelwald had died at a relative's home in Austria. He had not heard much about the old Dark Lord since he had left Denmark, and that had only been fragments anyway. He did not feel any sorrow over the news, but he was interested in other things surrounding his former hoped-for teacher which made letters increase for a short time between him and Darcy.

And speaking of letters…

Though during the chaos of leaving China and getting settled in Yama's citadel Lena had not had the chance to write to her father, she began writing again a little less than a month after they had gotten to the citadel. Voldemort, being highly suspicious of her after the Auror being in China, had watched her writing the letters if he got the chance. She did not write to him quite as often as she used to, he noticed. She only sent letters about once every two and a half weeks (actually _allowing_ enough time between sending the letter to have her father respond and send his letter to her before sending another). Her drop in frequency of letters seemed to mainly be because she was usually concocting some potion or reading through her books and making herself a grimoire. Though Voldemort was also sure it was because Taliesin had died delivering a letter to her shortly before they left China. But, still, as few letters as Tom still sent to his old schoolmates now (maybe _one_ letter a month), he thought that Lena should have gotten to about the same point.

It was late in the evening just a few days after the start of their third month there. The monsoons had made going anywhere rather impractical (and Lena tended to not shop when it was raining, which was almost all the time now). Voldemort had been working all day on his newest attempt at immortality in the extra room he had procured for his and Lena's potions. He had fallen behind in all of his own studies when he had to get used to being in the Hindu magical system. He needed to catch up.

When he entered the room, he stopped just inside the doorway. Lena was sitting on the settee they had moved under the window and she was absorbed in writing a letter and there was really only one person she ever wrote letters to. His eyes narrowed. Not being in a good mood at all (he had a headache and had had an argument with Sanat over his worthiness to be there yet again and he was getting ever closer to wanting to subject the old fool to the Cruciatus Curse), he was also not in the mood to have Lena telling her father all the details of what they were doing. He did _not_ want another Auror coming to look for him.

The Dark wizard stormed across the room and snatched up the letter. He glared down at her when she looked up, her quill still poised to write the next words on the parchment that was no longer there. She had absolutely no idea what was going on, but with the expression he was giving her, she did not know if she wanted to ask anyway.

Voldemort's eyes narrowed as he continued to glare at her. "Writing your father _another_ letter?"

"Is that such a horrible thing, my lord," she asked calmly, looking more at her now rather crumpled letter than at him.

"You know all the _rumors_ about you father we heard while we were in Europe, all the ones about his being a spy." His voice was rather venomous and his red eyes studied Lena skeptically. "You know, to me, it all seemed to fit."

The look on her face was somewhere between shock, confusion, and fear. "My lord?"

"And I wonder," he looked from the half-crumpled letter to her, "if whether or not I should even be trusting _you_."

Lena sunk back several inches in her chair under his red gaze. She really felt like running away at the moment. She was very frightened and his voice was harsher than she had ever heard. She slowly began to shake her head, then a moment later tears began to stream down her face. She was tired of his accusations and had hoped, after he had not questioned her for so long, that he may have actually started trusting her, as he had when they were still at school. "My lord, how can you not…why have…_what_ has made you suddenly start questioning my loyalty to you again? I've never done anything that…"

"You tell you father _every little detail_ of what we are doing! Is that not enough of a betrayal?!"

Burying her face in her hands, she broke down into sobs, unable to speak. She could not even move, she was too scared to. She could feel his eyes boring into the back of her head, and it made her all the more uncomfortable and fearful. But she still could not find the strength to talk or even to lift her face from her hands. She could not believe what he was accusing her of. After all these years he thought that she was a traitor to him. But…

"Look at me, Lena." He waited for a moment, staring down at her still. When she did not respond to him, his temper rose a little, his red eyes flashing dangerously. "Look at me, _now_!"

Through parted fingers, she looked up at him, her eyes still gleaming with tears. She did not see any sympathy in his eyes, but knew that he would have none. He had slowly become less and less forgiving over the years. And he despised weakness, which she was showing at that very moment, and it would just make him angrier. She straightened her posture as much as she could, trying hard to wipe away the tears on her robe's sleeve. She was coming to her senses, and she realized she had actually broken down into tears in front of him…_because_ of him. She _had_ to pull herself together. She did not want him to see her in tears any more and she never had. She could not have him thinking she was weak, not now…not with what he was becoming.

"There is a reason that a _British_ Auror knew we were in China, Lena. You told your father where we were, didn't you?"

"But I have never kept any secrets from my parents," she said a bit hoarsely, shaking her head slightly as she spoke.

"Well, you should start keeping some from your father now!"

Lena shrunk back again, nodding. "Yes, my lord."

"If you write to your father again," he brandished the crumpled letter in his hand, "you will allow me to look over the letter before you send it, _do you understand_?"

"Yes, my lord," she said in a tiny whisper.

Voldemort leaned over her, his red eyes staring into her green ones. There was a dead seriousness in his eyes that made Lena want to run away, but she could not for he had blocked her ways of escape. She could not even look away from him. He ran a finger down her cheek and the faintest smile edged onto his visage. His smile at times like these was never a comfort.

"You belong to me, Lena. Do _not_ forget that. You are my _tool_ and nothing more. That is the way it has _always_ been, and you have known it from the beginning and accepted it." He moved his hand from her cheek and ran his thumb down her throat in a rather caring caress, then, after a moment, pressed his thumb hard against her throat. It made her gasp in pain, feeling as though he would crush her throat any second. The Dark wizard narrowed his eyes and his voice fell to a whispered hiss. "I would _suggest_ that you do not do anything that would make me grow _angry_ with you. I can kill you with little regret. I do not love you, Lena, even if you _have_ grown to love me, for whatever reason. Love is a _useless_ emotion that makes fools out of great wizards. What little kindness and caring I show you is because you are _useful_ to me. And I would _hate_ to decide that your usefulness has ended."

As soon as he removed his hand from her throat, she took several deep breaths and bent over, closing her eyes and rubbing her throat slightly. "Forgive me, Master. I never…never meant to…to make you think I was not loyal to you."

The only response she got was his leaving footsteps. She did not dare to look up at his receding back, though. She could only mull over what he had said…and he was right. She was his, and she was the one that had chosen this path. She had started their relationship the very first time they had met…she had gone out of her way to become his friend because she had found him so interesting - so in need of a friend. And there was also just _something_ about him. And he had accepted her and kept her with him because she was useful and because she pleased him. She enjoyed seeing him happy. She had to be sure she continued to please her master, but it would be different from now on, for if she displeased him, he might kill her, with no regard to what she had done for him in the past. That scared her quite a bit.

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To my reviewers -

Liv - I'm so glad that you liked the previous chapter. I always try to keep my work detailed, though it does take a lot of work to do details. And it's not that it took me ages to get this "just right" it's that I spent ages looking for all of the information I needed on India - architecture, religion, regional information, etc. In the end Voldemort's not going to like India very much, and, honestly, I don't like it that much either after all the trouble it caused me! And the Auror…no one really special - it's not Moody, if that's what you're wondering. Just a simple, no name character I tossed into the story…sorry about that.

insert name here - you'll buy my thoughts on the Americas and magic, eh? How much you going to pay me for them? ::evil grin:: I've given much thought to the Americas (especially the US, as that's where I live) in relation to the world Jo's made. This is also going to be important to later in the story, too. Voldemort was after world domination, after all. And you're point about Voldemort's immortality obsessed, homicidal nature does make me wonder a bit, though I still cannot see Voldemort being a cannibal or bathing in blood (and the only people he'd do that with would be Mudbloods and Muggles so would he really want to "taint" himself that way?) Yes, I know I make my Voldemort highly endearing, even sweet at times. ::sigh:: I've tried my hardest to make him evil, I really have! I'm just not good at writing evil villains as the main characters. I'm working on getting him to that "there is not good and evil - only power and those too weak to seek it" attitude, but it just hasn't been happening! I think, though, that once I finally get Lena out of the way (yes! It will happen!) he'll be changing quite a bit. But you also have to think that he's been spending much of his time studying, being around purebloods all this time he's been away from Hogwarts so why does he really have to be evil, cruel, and sadistic around them? You haven't seen much of his hatred coming out (though there was that good point in China where he has a little fun torturing/killing Muggles, along with the other members of the Gaoji). And I think that my "highlights" of what he seeks/believes in versus what he _is_ a central "theme" about him so I focus on it as much as I can. Hmm, yes, I guess that ghosts are immortal, but I've never really seen them do magic and they're rather incorporeal, too, so holding/touching things would be difficult, no? It's a different sort of immortality than what Voldemort seeks, and it seems that it's rather depressing (given how Sir Nicholas acted at the end of book five). And, anyway, why can't all the ghosts in the world just pass through the Veil?! That could solve many problems if they could… I'm sure, though, that there will be, in the end, a more lasting end to Voldemort than his becoming a ghost. Ugh! Another long response to you…::sigh::


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